"Need to involve more sportspersons" - Ex-India shooter Ronjan Sodhi criticizes NRAI ahead of Paris Olympics 2024
Ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024, former India national team shooter and Asian Games gold medalist Ronjan Sodhi criticized the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for the lack of sportspersons in the federation as well as its handling of the shooting contingent in Paris.
Sodhi, who won two silver medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, said that the NRAI was late in announcing the 21-member shooting contingent representing India in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I think they [NRAI] must have thought about something, whether having trials at the last moment or whatever, whether there was a selection policy which was in order. I would say, there should be more sportspersons when it comes to selection matters in the whole [NRAI] panel,” Sodhi said at a panel discussion on Friday.
The 21-strong shooting contingent for the Paris Olympics 2024 is the highest ever for India, which had sent 15 shooters to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The contingent members were chosen after a series of four selection trials held in two batches during mid-June, two to three months later than most European nations.
This caused a wave of anxiety and confusion among the shooters, who had difficulty in planning their trips and selection trials.
“I don't think [the timing of the announcement was ideal]. It could have been better. It's too late... two months before the games you [NRAI] are announcing the team? I would say you have to give six months to a year to give the athletes to kind of even register that person is going [to the Olympics]," Sodhi said.
"People are struggling to find their kit. So, things could have been better,” Sodhi continued. "Bring in more sportsperson into the federations. I am not saying all sportspersons can run the federations, but you have to have a mix."
"I also told the sports minister about this and the senior sports officials as well. There is the need to involve more sportspersons in federations,” he added.
"Let’s keep our fingers crossed"- Ronjan Sodhi hopes for positive result at Paris Olympics 2024
Despite his criticism of the NRAI, Ronjan Sodhi expressed his hope for a positive result from the 21-member contingent at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
“If you see, 21 shooters have qualified, which is the biggest [Indian] shooting contingent ever. I hope that they do well but shooting is one sport nobody can predict,” he said.
“So let's keep our fingers crossed. They've [Indian shooters for Paris] trained well, they have a very good team of coaches and physiotherapists. They are in the best hands, so I hope they'll do well. But we cannot predict how many medals and who are going to win... Everybody in the shooting contingent is capable of winning a medal.”
Only four Indian shooters have been able to clinch a medal in the Olympics: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Men’s double trap, Silver, Athens 2004), Abhinav Bindra (Men’s 10m air rifle, Gold, Beijing 2008), Gagan Narang (Men’s 10m air rifle, Bronze, London 2012) and (Vijay Kumar, Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol, Silver, London 2012).
Indian shooting contingent returned medal-less at 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, this time around, there is optimism about getting some medals at the Paris Olympics.