After a gap of seven months, India’s Tokyo Games probable shooters will begin their preparation for the Olympics from October 15 in a bio-secure bubble at the Karni Singh Shooting Range. The two-month long camp for the Olympics core group, comprising 32 shooters (18 men and 14 women), 12 coaches and two support staff, will be held in two phases, with a week’s gap during Diwali.
The lodging arrangements of shooters, coaches and support staff have been made in a hotel near the Karni Singh Range. After a week’s quarantine and three negative Covid-19 results, shooters will begin training on October 23. They will be given a break for Diwali, following which they will re-assemble for the second phase of training.
While the camp is not officially mandatory, the National Rifle Association India (NRAI) has informed the shooters that their presence is a must as all safety precautions are being taken and they will be kept in a secure bio-bubble.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Thursday said Rs. 1.43 crore has been sanctioned for the shooting camp. This will be the first national camp where athletes have been allowed to stay in a hotel because the residential facility in the premises is still getting finishing touches.
A SAI medical team will monitor the camp, while NRAI will have a hygiene officer to coordinate and ensure adherence of SAI’s Standard Operating Procedures at the hotel and the range. It is being ensured that the campers are put into one section of the hotel where there could be no outside interaction.
Transport arrangements will be made from the hotel to the Karni Singh Range. The core group will train at a separate time during which other shooters, who have been training at the range, will not be allowed.
“No core group shooter can afford to miss this opportunity. The ministry has agreed to everything and earmarked a budget, so the camp will be mandatory for all the shooters. Everyone will stay in the designated hotel and travel from home for local shooters is not allowed. All safety precautions are being looked into,” said an NRAI official.
India won 15 quota places in shooting for the Tokyo Games and their last camp was held in March before the lockdown started.
NRAI president Raninder Singh said a national camp was much-needed for the shooters. “Our shooters have been training at home during the lockdown but to train together at a camp is going to help them much more. We are very happy that SAI has sanctioned this two-month training camp which will help our shooters to achieve the performance levels they were maintaining before the lockdown was announced,” he said.
National championships
The NRAI is also mulling to organise the national championships in December and an invitational tournament in January to give competition to the core group shooters before the New Delhi World Cup in March-April. However, organising a national championship that sees participation of close to 7000 shooters will be a tough task.
