As the Indian contingent prepares for their journey to France for the Paris Olympics, a lot of hope will remain in the entire contingent of shooters. This year, a 21-member team consisting of marksmen and women will represent India in France to further intensify the chances to bring in the gold this time. But a veteran marksman believes the NRAI did not do justice with the travelling shooters as they caused a delay in announcing the official contingent.
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Khel Ratna awardee marksman concerned about NRAI’s mismanagement over Paris Olympics-bound shooters
2010 Asian Games’ Gold medalist marksman, Ronjan Sodhi, believes the National Rifle Association of India could have found a better method to manage the planning of the Olympic contingent as they were late in naming the 21-name contingent, which was not ideal. He also saw the need for the sportspersons to have a say in the matter of selection with the panel.
“I speak my mind… I don’t think so. It [timing] could have been better. It’s too late… two months before the games you [NRAI] are announcing the team? I would say you have to give six months to a year to give the athletes… People are struggling to find their kit. So, things could have been better.
“I think they [NRAI] must have thought about something, whether having trials at the last moment or whatever, whether there was a selection policy which was in order. I would say, there should be more sportspersons when it comes to selection matters in the whole [NRAI] panel,” the veteran marksman said as per Telegraph.
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Sodhi was hoping that the shooting contingent would make a good showing in Paris, France, even if the association was taking its time to make its decision.
India has been medal-less in the preceding two Olympic Games when it comes to shooting. In the previous Tokyo Games, the 15-member squad could not bag any medals, and the hopes from this year’s contingent are extremely high as stars like Manu Bhaker, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Sift Kaur Samra, and more such notable names are present in this year’s contingent who could help in keeping India’s race stronger than ever.
