CHENNAI: One by one, athletes in the country have begun outdoor training after the coronavirus-enforced break. Latest to follow that path were two elite shooters from the national team. Mairaj Ahmad Khan (in pic) and Sheeraz Sheikh, on Wednesday, became first elite shooters to take part in a training camp made possible due to Sports Authority of India (SAI) initiative.
The two shotgun professionals resumed training after SAI had said on Tuesday that they’ll be re-opening the Dr Karni Shooting Range in New Delhi for the country’s top shooters in a phased manner. “It was a good day. I trained for three hours or so in the morning. The weather is hot and humid so it’s difficult to spend six, seven hours at a stretch in the range,” Mairaj, who revealed that he had trained at a private range in Aligarh recently, said. SAI, in its statement, had said that the standard operating procedure (SOP) will be strictly adhered at the range to provide a safe environment for the shooters. Thanking SAI, Mairaj said their first day on return went without a hitch.
“If a shooter is sitting, social distancing is already there. Only one shooter is involved, so when I was shooting, Sheeraz was sitting and likewise, I would take around 15 minutes break when he was shooting. It’s a good initiative by SAI. Ammunition and clay targets were also provided,” the skeet shooter said.
Only skeet shooter from India to have participated in the Olympics (2016 Rio Games), Mairaj said that he’ll take it slow to begin with. “It’s been a long gap so I’m just working on the basics for now. Today, I’m starting on the left side of the shooting range for the singles and doubles.
Next week, I’ll start from the latter part of the stations (5, 6, 7, 8). Then I’ll mix it afterwards and by the end of this month, I’ll do normal routine training.” Skeet shooting involves shooting clay targets from different positions, also known as stations (eight stations in total). Mairaj already has one eye on 2021 as all the international competitions this year have been cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. No competition effectively means it will be difficult for Mairaj and the other shooters to assess their progress. “The drawback right now for shooters is that we don’t know when will we be taking part in a competition. If you are not able to do that, it will be difficult to gauge the progress that you have made during training,” the veteran, who made Tokyo cut by securing silver during the Asian Championships last year, noted.