The National Rifle Association of India owes the country an explanation on the choices of coaches for the Tokyo Olympics. Having promised transparency, the NRAI has played games in leaving out foreign pistol coach Pavel Smirnov, hired by the Sports Authority of India at a whopping salary of $ 7500 per month. In addition, he has been provided rented accommodation in South Delhi plus car.
Matters do not end there. The NRAI, being virtually run by an office secretary for decades, has also slammed the doors on Dronacharya Jaspal Rana. It is strange how the NRAI which batted for Jaspal and nominated him for the Dronacharya award in 2019 and 2020 now finds him useless. The choice of pistol coaches, Samresh Jung and Ronak Pandit ahead of Pavel and Jaspal is bizarre.
Pavel is the same coach who helped out Vijay Kumar at the 2012 London Olympics when he won silver. When Pavel was working for the Indian Army, he had groomed Jitu Rai, a good pistol shooter who did well in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and World Cups. Sadly, Jitu was a victim of burnout and faded away. His failure to win an Olympic medal stands out in a short but sweet illustrious career.
The time has come when the Sports Authority of India and the Sports Ministry must probe why Pavel has become a victim, suddenly. If in the last three years, from the 2018 Asia Games in Palembang and Jakarta to now, Pavel has become a liability, it should have been highlighted by the NRAI.
Then again, if Pavel was not of use, why was he sent to Croatia for the lavish camp, cleared by the SAI. The tax payers’ money is precious and if one does the math, a fortune has been spent on Pavel. A probe should be ordered into this eyewash, where Pavel, who prefers to stay quiet and do his job, has been treated so shabbily. However, the NRAI highlighted he is working hard last month through a press release and even issued his photo.
For the NRAI to tell the world shooters picked their coaches for Tokyo 2020 is bunkum. None of these 15 shooters going to Tokyo 2020 is a superstar like Abhinav Bindra or Gagan Narang. They were in a position to pick and choose coaches after many Olympic campaigns, not in their maiden Olympics.
A debutant at the Olympics needs guidance from the NRAI. This time around, after the flop show in Rio 2016, it is back to square one. No doubt, Indian shooters may still win medals in Tokyo but changing and chucking coaches has become something similar to women’s cricket in India, the latest being the exit of coach WV Raman.
There is politics in Indian shooting and the coaches who will be going to Tokyo have been playing games. Some have posted more photos on social media of lunches and dinners than training. This has been allowed by the NRAI as some pedestrian coaches have become too big. The saving grace is rifle coach Oleg has still managed to keep his place intact despite some India coaches behaving like preening peacocks in the rain.
As regards Jaspal Rana, he has been used like a use and throw toy. He is the one who groomed the junior talent programme which has resulted in India producing so many top guns. When he first expressed hesitancy in going to Croatia, it was held against him. But Ronak and Samresh, who also did not want to go initially are being given special treatment.
Can the NRAI justify how a Dronacharya has become so useless and now a liability as a coach? To say shooters do not want him is unjustified. If you are a student and do not like the teacher in school, you have to accept it. His methods were scientific and Jaspal has produced results. That is why Bharat Sarkar gave him the Dronacharya.
The theatre of absurd climaxes with the appointment of Mansher Singh, a former trap shooter who will be national coach for skeet shooters Mairaj Khan and Angad Bajwa in Tokyo. For the record, Mansher never coached them. The two shooters have chosen to train in Italy for most part since May.
Trap and skeet are as different as cheese and chalk. Mansher has been a NRAI crony and is getting rewarded. It is sad the NRAI is shooting its own targets in the form of coaches! Hope this tamasha will be probed by the SAI and Sports Ministry as they spend crores of rupees on coaches, shooters, ammunition, camps and foreign tours.
