After creating a furore by threatening to quit, Abhinav Bindra had his way with the shooting establishment on Monday agreeing to consider the Olympic hero’s international scores for inclusion in the team for the third and fourth World Cups to be held later this year.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), however, made it clear that Abhinav’s inclusion in the first and second edition of the mega-event and the Commonwealth Shooting Championships was out of question as the squads for the three events have already been approved by the Sports Ministry.
NRAI has also requested the Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi to intervene and sort out the issue, which created a flutter after the Beijing Olympic Games gold-medallist expressed his desire to quit.
“Being the IOA president, we have asked Mr. Kalmadi to talk to Bindra and settle the matter. We have called his father A.S. Bindra for a meeting on Tuesday and asked him to bring Abhinav’s international scores along with him,” NRAI secretary-general Baljeet Singh Sethi told reporters here.
“But Abhinav’s selection in the first and second World Cup and Commonwealth Shooting Championships is impossible. We will consider his international scores for the next two World Cups.
“The teams have already been selected and the government has also given its approval, so we can’t make any changes right now,” he added.
