Manu Bhaker’s Asian Games medal preparations hit 50km commute: India shooting coach unhappy with arrangements

A man walks near wooden container units built to house athletes ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, September 15, 2026. A senior coach traveling with the 30-member Indian shooting contingent for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games expressed disappointment over the arrangement in Japan, saying the long travel time between the team’s hotel and the shooting range had become a major problem ahead of the competition.The coach was quoted by news agency PTI as saying he had arrived in Japan with high expectations but felt the arrangements did not match what he expected from the host nation. According to him, the Indian shooters are accommodated around 50 km from the training and competition venue and are accommodated in different hotels.For the contingent, which includes some of India’s top medal contenders like two-time Olympic bronze medalist Manu Bhaker and multiple Asian Games medalist Esha Singh, the daily commute meant early starts and long hours on the road to keep up with training schedules.“This (traffic) is a real problem. But what can we do about it? I didn’t see any hotels around the range. If there were, we would have arrived early. They gave us accommodation in a place that was far away, so what can we do about it now?” the coach, who was not named, said as quoted by PTI.He said the issue had been brought to the notice of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), although he had not spoken to federation officials about it in recent days.“I guess the federation (NRAI) would have told them (the Asian Games organisers). I have not spoken to the federation about it, but we have informed the federation about the issue and that discussion has been going on,” he said.The trainer also pointed out that long travel times are not uncommon when shooting, as shooting ranges are often located outside of cities and residential areas.“Having said that, I would also like to point out that the shooting ranges are very far from the main residence. Also in China (Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games), it used to take an hour to get to the shooting range. So now it has become a part of shooting,” he said.“But having said all that, Japan being Japan, I’m a bit disappointed with the arrangement. It could have been better.”