Day in and day out one hears about the travails of the elite Indian athletes who will be competing in the Tokyo Olympics. Those lucky to have sealed Olympic qualification spots have to focus on their training and competition.
Last week, when weightlifter Mirabhai Chanu made a dash to the United States of America to continue training under physiotherapist Aaron Horschig, it made headlines. Mirabhai had dealt with fitness woes and her stint in the USA had been beneficial. It showed in the form of a bronze medal as well at the Asian Championship recently in Tashkent, where she had world record to boot.
Right now, it is the Indian badminton players who are starved of competition and struggling to play abroad. The way Asian countries are slamming the door on India means flying out is next to impossible. Even right now, there are issues being deal with for the team to go to Malaysia. As of today, 26 countries have banned entry of Indians.
Evaluated against this backdrop, the decision of the National Rifle Association of India to fly out the pistol and rifle shooters to Zagreb, Croatia, for a nearly- two- month long tour seems logical. The team will fly from there to Tokyo.
It may appear the decision to move to a foreign base was hasty but a lot of thinking has gone into it, said sources. Since the time New Delhi hosted the ISSF World Cup, the Covid-19 situation in India has taken a turn for the worse.
It is well known, of the 15 shooters who have been chosen to represent the country in the Tokyo Olympics, starting July 23, almost half of them have tested positive for Covid-19. Even now, one leading rifle shooter is supposed to be “positive.” It has been a scary scenario and each day one hears one or the other shooter hit by the deadly virus.
And that is what has prompted the NRAI top brass to think of a solution whereby “the shooting team could be saved.” The Karni Singh ranges were supposed to hold the national camp in a Bio Bubble. However, the rising number of cases in New Delhi and the raging second wave forced a rethink.
There has been criticism for the choice of Zagreb as venue to host the long camp for the rifle and pistol shooters. Critics say the weather in Croatia and Japan are very different. The good thing is the shooters will be in one complex while training. Of course, there is no clarity as yet where the two skeet shooters — Angad Bajwa and Mairaj Khan — will be headed.
Zagreb has ostensibly been chosen as base camp as in absolute numbers it may appear the number of Covid-19 cases there are less. Croatia being a small country, the situation is not alarming there. Sources said the decision to shift base to Croatia was taken after consultations at the highest level.
That means the MEA, Sports Ministry and the SAI would have been kept in the loop. If that be the case and a decision has been made to hire a chartered plane to fly out the entourage, it seems a good one.
The unfortunate part is the way the NRAI has handled the exit of three pistol coaches, Jaspal Rana, Ronak Pandit and Samresh Jung. These three coaches had expressed their reluctance to travel abroad right now. Pressed for time, the NRAI dealt a blow to these three, saying the team would travel to Croatia without them. It was also the end of the road for these three and they will not make it to Tokyo.
To say the coaches are hurt would be an understatement.
If one goes through initial plans, the NRAI president Raninder Singh had said before the ISSF World Cup there was no question of the shooters travelling abroad! Well, plans do change and if it is for “saving the team”, then good luck.
A question which needs to be answered by the NRAI is what happens to the reserves chosen for each event for the Tokyo Olympics. They are not going to be on the chartered flight. Should any shooter take ill in Croatia, what happens to the reserves?
The jumbo squad to Croatia has too many coaches and four physios. Surely, some thought should have been spared for the reserves.