The visit of the Indian full bore team to London for a week-long training stint has been further postponed as four of the six shooters have not yet been given the visa to the United Kingdom.
The shooters were scheduled to train in Bisley, London, from September 9 to 15, in a revised plan, after the original plan of training from September 1 did not materialise, owing to the same visa issue.
The coach-cum-manager of the Indian full bore team, T.S. Dhillon, said that the National Rifle Association (NRA) in England had been requested to change the training stint for the Indian squad to September 15 to 21.
“We could have gone ahead with the plan and taken Amit Khanna and Sushil Ghalay who have got the visa. But, we are looking at the long term advantage for the team, and thus are keen to have the benefit of guidance for all the six,” said Dhillon.
Rifles arranged
One of the members of the selection committee, Dhillon said that the rifles for the shooters had been arranged in England and there was also a possibility that the team could get the rifles that have been ordered by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
“We have given provisional entry for the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games, but will decide the two shooters only after going through the training stint and studying the performance. It would have been easy to select Amit Khanna and Praveen Dahiya who had shot the competition in the Commonwealth Championship in April, but we want to be fair to all and want to build a strong base for the future,” said Dhillon, who was instrumental in setting up the full bore range with electronic targets at Kadarpur near Gurgaon.
42 confirm participation
Dhillon said that already 42 shooters including a woman, from 21 countries had confirmed participation for the full bore event in the Commonwealth Games. The SIUS-ASCOR experts who set up the electronic scoring system, are scheduled to arrive on September 12, to get the range ready.
“We could have stayed back and trained here itself, but we have no rifles. The rifles are scheduled to arrive only by 24th. Our shooters will be able to return from training and continue with their stint at our home range in Kadarpur. More than anything, it is important to get expert guidance as it would make a world of difference to the confidence of our shooters who are new to the sport,” opined Dhillon.
In the full bore competition, targets range from 300 to 1000 yards. While one shoots, the team mate acts as the expert navigator, studying the wind and other factors, and advises accordingly.
