A three-part review of Indian shooting is reportedly underway, with evaluation of the national federation, coaches and shooters planned in the wake of the disappointing showing at Tokyo Olympics, PTI reported.
The three-part review is already underway, an insider in the National Rifle Association of India told PTI.
The Indian shooting team returned from the Olympics without a medal for the second straight time, with only one final appearance between 15 shooters across 10 events.
“A review is already underway and it is being held in three parts. First the athletes, then the coaches and support [staff] and that will be followed by the executives of the national federation,” the source was quoted as saying by PTI.
Tokyo 2020: Data check – where Indian shooters finished and how far they were from finals
“Somebody with right credentials will evaluate the performance of the federation’s executives, will look into things like where the federation may have lacked as far as the preparation for the Olympics was concerned. So this review is not like it’s going to leave out the federation,” the source said.
Before the federation’s top office-bearers are evaluated, the NRAI is conducting a review of its own, involving the shooters, coaches and support staff, with the national federation intent on making radical changes to the setup.
“You can surely expect big changes in the whole setup and it’s not restricted to the coaches. Everyone will be thoroughly evaluated as it tries to find out the reasons behind the failure in Tokyo,” an official said.
“The shooters, coaches and support staff are being reviewed by the NRAI president (Raninder Singh) secretary (Rajiv Bhatia) and secretary general (D V Seetharama Rao),” he said.
The campaign in Tokyo also had its share of controversies with stories on the long-standing conflict between young pistol ace Manu Bhaker and her former coach Jaspal Rana grabbing the limelight.
Admitting that the performance was way below expectations, Raninder had promised a post-mortem after the Games, including overhauling the coaching staff to better prepare the players for big events.
“Definitely the performances have not been on expected lines and I have spoken of an overhaul of coaching and support staff as I feel something is lacking in getting our shooters prepared for these big occasions. Clearly the talent is there and we have seen it here as well,” Raninder had said in Tokyo.
It’s the second straight time in five Olympics that the Indian shooters are returning from the Games empty-handed, having met the same fate at the 2016 Rio Games five years ago, after which an Abhinav Bindra-led panel recommended a slew of reforms in the way shooting was run in the country.
With PTI Inputs
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