Shooting takes big hit

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 1

After the uncertainty over shooting disciplines in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the organisers of the 2018 Asian Games have shocked everyone with their decision to drop a few of the shooting events from its programme for the upcoming competition.  

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today forwarded a list of shooting disciplines on the 2018 programme to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). Surprisingly, the 50m pistol competition, the 50m prone competition for both men and women, and the 25m standard pistol events were missing from the list of events to be held in Jakarta in August this year.

Strangely, the double trap competition that has been dropped from the Olympic Games programme has been retained, while the 300m rifle 3-positions event makes its debut at the Asian Games.

NRAI president Raninder Singh said the development caught them unawares.

“This is shocking news. We were concerned that they may drop double trap but this is astounding. Free pistol, standard pistol, prone events are our strength. I don’t get the logic behind this decision,” Singh told The Tribune.

“They have got 300m 3 prone event. That is not an Olympics competition. We are already in the midst of confusion about what disciplines are there or not there in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and now this! I don’t know what to make of this,” he added.

Boycott Games

Jaspal Rana, who won a number of medals in both centre fire and standard pistol disciplines, has called for the boycott of the Asian Games as he felt that the Indians were being targeted.

 “I see a pattern. They (organisers) have been dropping competitions in which Indians have been doing well and winning medals,” he said.

“Same thing happened in CWG and now this. I think we should boycott these games. Same thing may happen in badminton, wrestling. The government and the federation should now stand up against this,” he added.

Rana was surprised as to how double trap remained on the programme. “I can still understand if they said these events are not on the Olympics programme and that’s why they were dropped. But they retained double trap. Where is the logic behind it? Double trap is not on the Olympics programme too,” he said.