Sports


Our shooters converting more final qualifications into medals: NRAI chief K N Singh Deo

By Rohit Kumar Mitra
Dehradun, June 25 (UNI) Encouraged by the improving conversion rate of tournament final appearances to medals for the country's shooters, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) is aiming to hold at least two major International events every year to give more exposure to the domestic competitors.
"Our problem was that even if we were making it to the finals we were not able to convert them into medals. Now if you look at our performance at the World cups, Asian games, Olympics and even world championships, medal conversions have reached almost 50 per cent," NRAI President Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said in an interview to UNI here.
Singh Deo said at the Paris Olympics last year, India had a 22-member squad. "We got three medals, we got three number four positions. one number five position, one number six position. So the conversions from the quota places to the final is almost 50 per cent, and from final to medals is almost 50 pc as well, we have to take this percentage to 60 and 70 per cent," he said.
The NRAI chief was on a visit to the city to oversee selection trials 3 group A for Rifle and Pistol.
He credited the NRAI's high performance team led by Director Dr. Pierre Beauchamp for the improvement graph
"our high performance team led by Dr Pierre Beauchamp, is a big asset for us, they had meticulous and detailed training sessions/ modules especially focused for the final matches, which will help our shooters perform better once they get into the finals," he said.
Praising 19-year-old 10-metre shooter Suruchi Singh, who won three consecutive golds in three recent ISSF World cups held in Argentina, Peru and Germany. he said Suruchi's ability to remain stoic both in victory and defeat is her biggest strength.
"She is a fabulous discovery, she was part of our junior team, but has come up seamlessly to the senior side. Her strength is that she remains unshakable. Neither does she let success get to her, nor does she let her failures get to her. ... She has the mental framework and fortitude that is essential for shooting, She is mature beyond her years, she has got the correct mental framework and right attitude for being successful," he remarked.
Singh Deo feels that shooting as a sport is making rapid strides. The country has over 95,000 registered shooters and 17000 registered ranges in the NRAI framework.
"Every time we hold the nationals, we have 15,000 participants - those who have gone through district, state, zonal, pre nationals and then nationals. So the shooting community has grown by leaps and bounds. The performances in big tournaments like Olympics and Asian games gives a big push to the sport," he said during the exclusive chat.
"The fact that we are certifying a number of ranges in a year, the fact that we trained 1000 coaches in the last two years - NRAI and ISSF certified coaches, will ensure standardised, world class training in this new ranges. The upcoming league will ensure greater visibility for the sport," the NRAI boss pointed out.
Singh Deo said the NRAI wants to ensure every year India hosts at least two major international events so as to give proper exposure to the shooters
"Last year we held the World Cup final, this year we will have the junior World Cup in Delhi, the SLI and Asian shooting championship in February. Every year we plan to hold two international events.
"We have a World Cup quota competition, World Championship coming our way. These will ensure our shooters get an adequate flavour of international competition in their home ground, all before the next Olympics," he added. UNI RKM SSP
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