Need to build larger stock of shooters for consistency: NRAI president Kalikesh Singh Deo

NRAI President Kalikesh Singh Deo (ANI Photo) PUNE: Indian shooters had a decent performance at the recently concluded Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The shooters won 15 medals, including 3 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze medals, finishing second behind China (28 in total) in the sports medal tally.Although there has been a large number of medals, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Kalikesh Singh Deo feels that India could have done better in the quadrennial event.“I think the results were decent. We did quite well in some events. However, there was one event where we fell short of our expectations given the strength of the team we fielded,” Kalikesh told TOI.The NRAI president was referring to the air gun action where India pulled a blank. India did not win a single medal in men’s and women’s air pistols in individual and team categories. Suruchi Phogat and Kamaljeet’s mixed team gold was the only consolation for the Indians.While the women’s team had experienced shooters like two-time Paris Games medalist Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Suruchi, the men’s team had an inexperienced squad that included Kamaljeet, Kedarling Balakrishna and Aakash Bhardwaj.With many new shooters entering the men’s 10m air pistol competition, it is difficult for players to maintain a place in the lineup. The men’s squad is constantly changing from tournament to tournament and lacks stability. Kalikesh agreed that the constantly changing names made things inconsistent for them.“There have been frequent changes in the composition of the men’s air pistol team. Our selection policy is completely objective. We use a moving average score, so we are not arbitrary in the selection process. However, frequent changes in the team can be a problem because the athletes do not have enough time to gain experience. Also, the sports science support we have to provide them is sometimes disrupted,” he said.The NRAI chief said that the federation will look for a solution as it faces the problem of abundance.“We have to find a way to work with more athletes, maybe even outside the main team. We have anticipated this problem not only in air pistol, but also in some other events where many young shooters have started to establish themselves. In fact, the year before this, we introduced a policy of sending two teams to international competitions. In addition to the main team, which competed in every world championship and gave its members an opportunity, we sent another team of 10. 15 shooters in each discipline now gained international exposure.”“That being said, the men’s air pistol remains an issue that we need to address. We are waiting for the conclusion of the World Cup as we do not want to disrupt either the team or the high performance coaching group at this stage,” he added.