Manu Bhaker’s coach Jaspal Rana slams NRAI for inconsistent selection policy

New Delhi, August 18

Double Olympics medallist shooter Manu Bhaker’s coach Jaspal Rana has slammed the national federation’s “ever-changing” Olympics selection policy, saying that it has hurt some of the most promising talents in the past and will damage more youngsters if there is no consistency going forward.

Rana, a pistol legend in his own right who won three Asian Games gold medals in the 2006 edition, hardly minced words as he questioned the federation’s tendency to make last-minute changes to its policy, and its stubborn refusal to acknowledge or facilitate the presence of shooters’ personal coaches at national camps and trials. “The selection policy changes every six months. I met the sports minister and told him ‘get the selection policy from the federation’. Let them decide... whatever they decide, right or wrong, we are not discussing that, and then stick to it. You will see the difference (in the performance of shooters),” he said.

Several talented shooters such as Saurabh Chaudhary, the only one to make the final (in 10m air pistol) at the Tokyo Games, and Asian Games gold medallist Jitu Rai faded away in a matter of a few years at a time when they were among the brightest prospects for Olympics glory. Rana said the system failed them and many more.

“Where is Saurabh Chaudhary, where is Jitu Rai? Does anybody talk about them? No. Are we talking about Arjun Babuta, who finished fourth in Paris? He missed the medal by a fraction,” the 48-year-old said.

“Nobody is thinking how to get him back on the platform,” said Rana, who was allegedly told to leave the Karni Singh ranges by the federation’s high performance director Pierre Beauchamp during the Paris Olympics selection trials.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) amended its selection criteria in 2021 after a second successive medal-less Olympics outing in Tokyo, drastically reducing the bonus points awarded to quota winners and re-introducing trials to decide the final squad after a considerable gap. Earlier, the composition of the final squads was at NRAI’s discretion and quotas used to be swapped if the federation did not consider a shooter good enough. Names were finalised based on NRAI’s own obscure assessment of the shooters’ performance leading up to the Games, causing anxiety among even the best of performers.

But even with the introduction of trials, there was no consistency and NRAI faced criticism for restricting the number of shooters who could aim for an Olympics berth to just five based on international and camp performances. This made it impossible to even have a full field of eight shooters at the trials, which was widely ridiculed and criticised.

Rana said he isn’t against change but would like more consistency during an Olympics cycle. “All the Olympics medallists, we don’t see them after one or two Olympics because there is no system by which we can protect them,” he said.

“The squad is selected from the Nationals. So, if she is not playing the Nationals, which she is not, then next year she will not get the facilities other shooters will get. Those who have competed in the Olympics and proved themselves, let them be there at every trial,” he added. — PTI