SAI and NRAI to jointly conduct national shooting camp from Thursday

Shooting, along with other disciplines have been largely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with Indian athletes out of action for the most part of the lockdown, since late March. Even though many of the facilities have opened up within the country, with competitive football back after several months, the situation is far from normal. The national shooting camp, which was expected to be held with a strength of 32 shooters (18 men and 14 women), including all 15 Tokyo-bound athletes, has been postponed twice owing to the pandemic situation.

According to the latest reports, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), along with the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has jointly taken up the task of conducting the camp inside a bio-secure bubble at the Dr. Karni Shooting Range, from Thursday. The range will be divided into four ‘risk’ zones, to make sure that the Olympic-bound shooters can safely resume their two-month camp which was long due. The entire exercise will take place at a cost of Rs. 1.43 crores, as reported by SAI.

"In order to maintain a secure bio-bubble whereby the athletes can train safely and to prevent a coronavirus outbreak, the responsibility of maintaining the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be shared by the Sports Authority of India and the NRAI," read a statement from SAI.

"To maintain safety, zoning of premises by nature of risk category to minimize the contact between campers and range personnel has been planned into Green, Orange, Yellow and Red Zones," added the statement.