SAI to open Karni Shooting Range for Olympic hopeful shooters

Sports Authority of India (SAI) has granted approval to the request for the Karni Shooting Range to be opened in New Delhi for Indian national squad shooters.

The range will be operational from October 5 for the shooters and the government has decided to bear the expense of ammunition and target for an additional bunch of 64 shooters.

SAI had already opened the facility for the training of the core group shooters under the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) as well as the shooters who are a part of the developmental group and Khelo India.

SAI has stated that they understand the requirement of a dedicated coaching camp for the shooters in their preparation for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics 2021. They have agreed in-principle for the camp for the core group shooters from the NRAI who have been selected as possible medal contenders in Tokyo.

The apex sports body have also confirmed that the details of the coaching camp are currently being worked out considering the existing circumstances due to the COVID-19 crisis still prevalent across the nation.

SAI took into account the present mandatory quarantine of 7 days and decided not to hold the shotgun camp for 10 days as shooters and their staff would have been coming in from different parts of India to New Delhi.

SAI working on modalities

In addition to the aforementioned arrangements, SAI and NRAI are also working out the measures for implementing the quarantine process for shooters who will be accommodated at the hotel as well as those who will travel from their homes in the National Capital Region (NCR) near New Delhi.

Some of the Indian shooters, such as Manu Bhaker, Sanjeev Rajput and others have practiced at the Karni Shooting Range on an individual basis.

The Indian shooting contingent is one of the most promising ones for potential medal finishes at the Tokyo Olympics with as many as 15 shooters having confirmed their qualification for the mega event next year.