* Days of 'hobby shooting' are over * Those who fail to register at least 70 per cent attendance won't be considered for selection * Rule applies to top performers like Bindra, Rai too
The days of 'hobby shooting' are over.
Abhinav Bindra will not be allowed to skip the national camp on the pretext of training on his own. Jitu Rai and Vijay Kumar can't leave the camp midway to join their respective Army units without informing the national federation. Cracking the whip on habitual absconders, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has made it mandatory for the country's air rifle, pistol and shotgun shooters to register a minimum of 70 per cent attendance at camps in order to represent India at international events.
The rule has already been put into effect in the shotgun discipline and will be introduced in the air rifle and pistol categories by December.
"The minimum qualification for representing the country is 70 per cent attendance at national camps. To be eligible for selection trials before the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships, a shooter must fulfill the attendance criteria apart from maintaining his national ranking. The shooters must realise the importance attached to a national camp. There can't be different rules for different shooters," NRAI chief Raninder Singh told dna.
It is understood that NRAI was contemplating this change for quite some time and had warned a number of shooters in this regard. "Shooters have to inform the federation about their decision to attend the camp. In case they plan to skip the camp, they will make way for the next best athlete," Singh added.
When asked if the new rule would apply to a star shooter like Bindra, who turned into a "hobby shooter" after the 2014, Singh said, "Bindra has to attend the camp. The rules are same for everybody. We can only exempt him on specific grounds. There has to be a solid, genuine reason for not attending the camp."
Singh, however, informed that the NRAI has made a provision for young mothers and single mothers to skip the camp during emergencies. "The attendance rule will be relaxed for them. Certain clauses have been included in the new policy to exempt them from regularly attending the camp."
Recently, as many as 20 elite shooters, including Bindra, Vijay, Anjali Bhagwat, Rahi Sarnabot and Joydeep Karmakar among others, had skipped the senior national camp in Thiruvananthapuram, which was organised to aid those gearing up for the World Championship in Gabala, Azerbaijan. The high number of absentees irked NRAI officials, who forwarded the matter to its Athletes' Committee.
But the trigger point this time were the accusations levelled by some top air rifle and pistol shooters against foreign coach Stanislav Lapidus, who they alleged "continues to ignore us while being partial towards a few internationals". The complainants were Bhagwat, Suma Shirur, Sanjeev Rajput, Ayonika Paul, Lajja Gauswami, Tejaswani Sawant and Kuheli Ganguly. These shooters had also alleged that Lapidus sought sexual favours from junior shooters for personally coaching them, a claim rejected by the NRAI.
"When you don't attend the national camps, how can you accuse him (Lapidus) of not attending to you? Most of the time our top shooters remain absent from the camp," Singh said.
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