Know Thyself!

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has won a general ROUND OF APPLAUSE for taking the initiative to improve its working, even though the report, by a committee appointed by it, has squarely blamed the federation for not monitoring the preparation of the shooters in a more responsible manner for the Rio Olympics.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

In Indian sports, the biggest missing points have been transparency and accountability. In such a scenario the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) not only did the right thing to trust its best athlete, Olympic and World Champion Abhinav Bindra, to head a committee to study the drying up of Olympic medals, but also make the report public.

On the one hand when the Supreme Court is trying to compel the Cricket Board to stick to the suggested reforms by the Lodha Committee, the NRAI has won a general round of applause for taking the initiative to improve the system, even though the report squarely blamed the federation for not monitoring the preparation of the shooters in a more responsible manner for the Rio Olympics.

AFTER WINNING A GOLD, two silvers and a bronze in all in the three Olympics, from Athens to London, Indian shooting had a rude awakening when it failed to win a medal in the Rio Games, despite having a dozen shooters competing in 18 events.

The coaches were forthright in saying that some of the leading shooters like Gagan Narang and Manavjit Singh Sandhu did not prepare judiciously, especially in terms of their physical readiness. One had gained weight alarmingly, while the other had lost weight dramatically, both leading to technical complications.