Two-month shooting camp scheduled for Olympic hopefuls at Karni Shooting Range

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has given its stamp of approval for a shooting camp to be held over the course of two months at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. The shooting camp will be held for the core Tokyo Olympics probables from October 15 to December 14.

The camp will see a total of 32 shooters - 18 male and 14 female come together to undergo training under the supervision of eight Indian coaches, three foreign coaches and two support staff members. SAI has earmarked a corpus of Rs 1.43 crore for the organization of the shooting camp at the range.

SAI stated that the camp is crucial for the athletes' preparations ahead of the Tokyo Olympics next year and all the government guidelines will be followed at the venue.

"It is imperative to have a camp because it is an integral part of the preparation for an event like the Olympics. The camp will be conducted following the SAI SOP," the country’s nodal sports body said.

Shooting camp will have all Tokyo-bound athletes at the range

A record fifteen Indian shooters have secured their quotas for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics scheduled to be held next July so far. All of them will be taking part in the two-month camp at the Karni Singh Shooting Range.

Arjuna Awardee shooter Anjum Moudgil appreciated SAI for finalizing the camp as it will allow shooters to assess themselves in their preparations for the mega event in Japan.

"It is very good that SAI and NRAI have decided to hold this camp which will give us much needed practice with just 10 months to go for the Olympics. Regular shooting in a camp environment will give us a better idea of where we currently stand," Moudgil said.

The shooting camp in Delhi will mark the first occasion where all the Tokyo-hopefuls will gather under a same roof for training purposes. The shooters have been undergoing training at their home ranges since the lockdown was imposed in March owing to the COVID-19 crisis around the nation.

Divyansh Singh Panwar, the World No. 1 shooter in the Men's 10m Air Rifle category, also expressed his eagerness to get back to training under the national coaches after practicing on his own through the lockdown.

"Though I have been training right through the lockdown, training in a camp with all the fellow shooters will be much better preparation with the national coaches monitoring our progress. I am looking forward to this camp," Panwar said.

In addition to the 15 qualified shooters for the Tokyo Olympics, India can further add to their tally on the basis of world rankings of the athletes in their respective categories.