CHENNAI: At long last, the much-awaited process of reviewing the performances of shooters during the Tokyo Olympics has begun. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the governing body of the sport in the country, was under pressure after most of the shooters, especially the seniors, failed to live up to their billing.
The NRAI conducted a meeting with the Tokyo participants on Monday and Tuesday. It is learnt that the shooters and coaches were asked to give their observations on what went wrong and the way forward. It is to be noted that after the failure at the Tokyo Olympics, there were rumblings within the coaching staff and NRAI officials.
"We had meeting with the shooters and the coaches. We'll be working on the report now," Rajiv Bhatia, NRAI secretary, confirmed to The New Indian Express. A record 15-member team had entered the quadrennial event with loads of expectations. One by one, the shooters fell by the wayside.
Even serial winners like teenagers Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary couldn't quite cope with the pressure of the event and fell short of their targets, making it a forgettable Olympic campaign for shooting. Moreover, in the middle of the campaign, Raninder Singh, NRAI president, had revealed that "there was a lot of internal wrangling in the pistol squad among coaches".
The two-day meeting is vital as the federation looks to make a fresh start. Based on the findings, past records, the federation is expected to decide on the future composition of the team as well as the coaching staff. It would take a decision on foreign coaches as well.
Another area the evaluation would help is in selecting the Target Olympics Podium Scheme shooters for both core as well as development groups.