National shooting camp involving Olympic aspirants postponed due to spike in Covid-19 cases

It was on Thursday that a shooting coach at the camp venue - Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range - tested positive for Covid-19 virus. And although the incident didn't result in the closing of the shooting facility, with the count in Delhi already over 1 lakh, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has, however, been forced to postpone the national shooting camp involving Tokyo aspirants. The decision comes in the wake of the recent spike in the number of positive cases. The national sports federation is planning to start the event in the second week of August, which was earlier set to kick-start on August 1 itself.

"The camp stands postponed at the moment. We are trying to work out a few things and by next week we hope to have a clearer picture. Maybe we can start in the second week of August depending on the situation," said Rajiv Bhatia, NRAI secretary, to PTI.

Meanwhile, the elite shooters that have assembled at the shooting range earlier in July, will continue their daily training in accordance with the health and safety protocols. Top shooters like Sanjeev Rajput, Manu Bhaker, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Sheeraj Sheikh and Anish Bhanwala have been training at the facility for the past few days, even though shooters residing outside the National Capital Region (NCR) have been sceptical of travelling to the shooting range due to the increasing Covid-19 threat in the region.