"Pistol Shooters Behind Schedule, Don't Know Who Will Go To Olympics": Jaspal Rana

Legendary pistol marksman Jaspal Rana has expressed grave concerns over the delay in naming the Indian shooting contingent for the Paris Olympics, saying it will leave the selected shooters with little time for the final phase of preparations. Several countries, including the US and Italy, and many European powerhouses have announced their squads and their shooters are in the final phase of fine-tuning their skills and programs for the Olympics, even as India commenced its nearly month-long exercise on Friday.

The top-five ranked shooters in pistol and rifle category will undergo four trials -- April 19-27 (New Delhi, trial 1 & 2) and May 10-19 (Bhopal, trial 3 & 4) -- and the selection for Paris will be done after that, leaving precious little time for the last phase of training.

The Paris Olympics will commence on July 26.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has completed the trials in shotgun events, but they are yet to announce the squad in the hope that a few more shooters might secure Paris quotas in the Final Olympic Qualification Championship, which started in Doha on Friday.

"We are not in the same category of training and preparation as other people are getting around the world. They (strong countries in shooting sport) have already selected their teams and started their training and we are behind schedule," said Padma Shri and Arjuna Awardee shooter Rana in harsh comments against the NRAI's policy.

"Nobody knows so far who is going and who is not going. That puts a lot of pressure on the players who have won quota places, while those who have not won the quota places there is a lot less pressure," added the four-time Asian Games gold-medallist, who is currently the personal coach of Olympian Manu