"Most of the work has been done since last year" - India shooting coach Suma Shirur confident before Paris Olympics

Suma Shirur, India’s rifle shooting coach, sounded optimistic about the national team’s chances in the upcoming edition of the Olympics.

Shirur, who competed in the 10-metre air rifle event, said that the Indian shooters are ready for the mega event, scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11.

However, the 49-year-old Shirur said that the shooters need to “fine tune” certain aspects of their game to be totally prepared for the Olympics.

“Most of the work has been done since last year. In every competition, we were working on little things, making positive changes in their system. Now, we need to fine tune those things,” Shirur was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

“As national coaches, we are not teaching them how to shoot, but now the focus is on how to perform at a bigger stage. That’s the main thing for us. Self-regulation is the most important aspect that we are going to work on because no matter how you train, you still need to go out there and perform,” she said.

Later this year in April, the NRAI will select the Indian shooters for the Olympics from the four selection trials. The players selected will then take part in the ISSF World Cup in Munich.

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"Tokyo was a completely different ball game" - Suma Shirur

India did not have the best of times in the Tokyo Olympics two and a half years ago. Keeping aside Saurabh Chaudhary, none of the other participants advanced to the final.

Shirur admitted the COVID-19 pandemic affected India’s preparations. But she said that this time around, the shooters have ample chances to get themselves prepared.

“Tokyo was a completely different ball game and back then, quite a few decisions had to be taken because of the circumstances. We did not have any control over those circumstances due to COVID,” Shirur added.

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