India's Olympic Champion Abhinav Bindra faces visa woes ahead of Asian Games

Abhinav Bindra was robbed of crucial time ahead of Asian Games

Abhinav Bindra may have entered his name into history books for being India’s first individual gold medallist, but when it came to training early in Incheon for the Asian Games, he had to wait. This is not the first time that Bindra is facing red-tapism, the Beijing games Gold medallist says he “got used” to such things.

He says that he hasn’t got enough time to take rest and practice for the 10m air rifle event. The games organisers were unable to send accreditation cards to Bindra and other members of the shooting squad as the national federation had failed to send their entries on time. Bindra was supposed to fly directly from the World Championships in Grenada, Spain to Incheon, but had to come back to India to apply for a Korean visa two days after his preferred date.

The humiliation didn’t stop there. Bindra was not welcomed by any Indian official when he arrived in Incheon to handover his accreditation or complete customs formalities for the release of his equipment. It took more than four hours for Bindra to reach the athletes village where he was finally accommodated after local officials contacted the Indian delegation.

It has happened before

Bindra says that it is nothing new. "It would have been nice to come in early but what can I do?," Bindra said. "But you know what, I have got used to these things. Nothing surprises me anymore. The best I can do is concentrate on my event and give my best."

Bindra’s event will happen at the Ongnyeon International Range on Monday.

India's shooters will look to better their Commonwealth Games performance, where they won 17 medals, including four golds. China and South Korea pose the toughest challenge for them. Ronjan Sodhi won the only gold in Guangzhou Asian Games four years ago.