We cannot return empty-handed from Tokyo, says NRAI president Raninder Singh
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh has said that the Indian shooting team cannot afford to return from next year’s Tokyo Olympics empty-handed. To this end, the NRAI wants to protect its 15 Olympic-bound shooters from exploitation and distractions.
12 shooters represented India at the Rio Olympics in 2016, but none returned with a medal to show. Having vowed that he would get the shooting contingent to perform again, Singh believes India need to win at least four medals from the Tokyo Games if they want to keep the sport alive.
“Our sport will be shut. The government is spending Rs 30 crore a year. Nobody will keep backing it like this if we go like Fanney Khan and return empty-handed. My neck is on the block. I promised we would recover from Rio. We have worked damn hard to get here. Everything is on the line. We have to make sure we apply our minds and prepare for the last 10 months,” Singh said, reported Scroll.
With a record 15 quota places for the Games sealed, shooters will not be allowed to sign any new commercial deals without the association’s permission and the parents will also have to sign a bond that no exploitation will be done for “financial gains.”
“Those who have signed the contract will have to unsign them or I will take them to court. We’ll go and get a stay. I will go as a national federation and say my child is being exploited,” Singh said.
“They can’t think that they can go off doing what [trap shooter] Ronjan Singh Sodhi did – start earning before, and believing he had won the gold medal before he reached London even. I will even ask the families – father and mother – to sign a bond that you are responsible for this athlete, you cannot misuse this athlete’s standing for financial gain,” he said.
With less than eight months to go for the event in Tokyo, the president stressed that all the training schedules of the shooters will be within the country, with the NRAI planning to hire mentors – former Olympians or world champions – for the team.
“They will all train in New Delhi. Nobody is going to Japan, China, Switzerland... nobody is going anywhere. You can go for ammo testing, grips, change of barrel. But the athlete can bring whoever they want and train in New Delhi. If they want to train at their home, we don’t mind. We will keep track of everything they are doing,” Singh added.
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