Olympic-bound Indian shooters to get vaccinated on Thursday ahead of Croatia tour
India’s shooting squad will be based in Zagreb, Croatia for three months in its final build-up and will fly out from there for the Tokyo Olympics.
A team of 13 rifle and pistol shooters accompanied by coaches and support staff will leave for Zagreb on May 11. Skeet shooters Angad Vir Bajwa and Mairaj Khan will be training in Italy. Bajwa is already training there and Mairaj is expected to join him.
The contingent has been asked to report in New Delhi on Tuesday and quarantine for a week. The shooters and coaches will be vaccinated in this period and will then leave for Zagreb on a chartered flight.
They will take part in the European Championships in the MQS (Minimum Qualification Score) section, from May 20. After the meet they will stay back in Zagreb until they fly out for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.
“The team will be directly going to Tokyo from there. The Croatian Shooting Federation is making all the arrangements,” National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said in a statement.
“The NRAI has also made arrangements for a chartered flight for the entire squad to fly to Zagreb in order to nullify the threat of contracting infection to the maximum. All members of the squad including coaches and officials would be vaccinated by May 6 before departure.”
With the second wave of the pandemic sweeping the country and travel restrictions being imposed on Indians, NRAI has been looking to send out the shooters to train abroad. The initial plan was to return home to train but it was felt the shooters would be safer based abroad.
“The situation is still very fluid but we have got permission from the Croatian shooting federation. They will have to carry a 48hr negative RT-PCR report and stay in quarantine there for a week. The visas and other things required for travel are being worked out,” said an NRAI official.
NRAI has also allowed private coaches and support staff of the shooters to be part of the squad. Apurvi Chandela, Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Panwar will have their own coaches. Croatian rifle shooter Peter Gorsa, world No.3 in the three-position event, has been helping NRAI with the plans.
“There were several plans in place but this has finally worked out. We will keep our fingers crossed till we reach there,” said a national coach.
“The shooters will also get to train with the Croatian team. They have an upgraded range in an Army facility and targets are similar to those that will be used in Tokyo,” said the coach.
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