Olympic quota: Is NRAI shooting itself in the foot?

The 12th Asian Shooting championship beginning in Doha, Qatar, next month will provide the last chance for Indian marksmen to win quota places for 2012 London Olympic Games. But instead of focusing on doing their best in the continental competition and earning as many Olympic berths as possible, the Indian contingent has been engulfed in a selection quandary thanks to the National Rifle Association of India’s (NRAI) rules for deciding the shooters eligibility to compete in the London Games. According to the rules of the international body, the quota places are allotted to the country and not to the individual shooter winning the berth. Each country can earn two quota places in each event. This means that the national federation can pick any shooter it deems as the right candidate to win an Olympic medal. [caption id=“attachment_167512” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“NRAI’s contention is that the new system would enhance India’s chances of winning more medals in London Games. The example the officials cite to back their claims is that of double trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi. AFP”]  [/caption] Till the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, NRAI was happy to send those shooters who had earned the quota to the Games. But in 2010, the governing body came up with a rule that the Olympic selection will depend on a shooter’s performance in 10 tournaments that included the 2010 World Championship, two nationals, four world cups, 2011 Asian championship and the first two world cups in 2012. If that was not enough, NRAI dropped the last two events from the list a few days before the team selection for the Asian championship since it would have delayed the submission of the team list to the Indian Olympic Association, thereby making the selection for the Asian championship all the more important for the shooters. The case of Hariom Singh, a quota winner in 50m prone competition, was most peculiar since the new rule means that the 25-year-old would have been out of contention for the London Games. Hariom won the Olympic quota at the Munich World Championship in 2010 but then suffered a lower back injury soon after the Commonwealth Games. However, instead of concentrating on a full recovery, the shooter had been busy participating in various tournaments due to the new criteria and that has surely affected his performance in the last one year. A faulty rifle only added to his problems and saw him slip to eighth position in the pecking order and was initially dropped from the Asian Championship squad. It was only after Hariom’s employers – the Indian Army – decided to withdraw four of their shooters who were ahead of the 25-year-old in that list, he was eventually drafted in the squad. But this episode has once again ignited the debate over whether the national federation should have stuck to its old system of allowing quota place winners to compete in the Olympics, thereby allowing shooters like Hariom more time to work on their injury management and form with the Olympics as the only target. NRAI’s contention is that the new system would enhance India’s chances of winning more medals in London Games. The example the officials cite to back their claims is that of double trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi — he had equalled the world record in 2008 in a tournament that was not an official qualification event — who had failed to make the grade as Athens Games silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had won the quota and had to be sent. Sodhi’s case was exceptional. But then one cannot forget that the country’s first individual gold medallist, Abhinav Bindra, wasn’t at his best in the run up to the Beijing Games as he was working on his technique for the quadrennial event. However, the bigger argument in favour of sending those winning a quota place is the fact that they have proved their credentials where it matters the most. It is always difficult to seal a quota place early in the four-year cycle since only the medal winners can guarantee an Olympic berth then. However, closer to the Games, one has to only perform better than those who haven’t won a quota to earn an Olympic spot for their country. The NRAI argument can be understood if more than two shooters perform well enough to earn a quota and hence there is a selection dilemma. Countries like the US resolve this by having Olympic trials, which is probably how India should go about it as well. But that hasn’t been the case with the Indian contingent. Apart from the 10m air rifle men’s event, India has won just one quota in seven other events and if any of Hariom’s challengers fail to win a quota in the Asian championship why should they be considered as better medal prospects than the 25-year-old? The women’s 25m-pistol quota winner Rahi Sarnobat has been going through a similar dilemma. Rahi finished third in the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning earlier this year to earn a quota place and has been tinkering with her technique to get used to a new weapon. However, if Rahi fails to score better than Anisa Sayyed in the Asian Championship, she would not be on the plane to London unless Sayyed earns the second quota in Doha. And every one in the coaching staff is hoping that Sayyed achieves her target and saves them from yet another controversy. It’s just that the NRAI could have saved them from this trouble had they kept things simple and had stuck to rewarding the shooter who earns the quota place with a ticket on the flight to London in August. Quota places won by India so far: Men 10m air rifle: 2 (Gagan Narang, Abhinav Bindra) 50m rifle prone: 1 (Hariom Singh) 50m rifle 3 position: 1 (Sanjeev Rajput) 25m rapid fire pistol: 1 (Vijay Kumar) Double Trap: 1 (Ronjan Sodhi) Women 25m pistol: 1 (Rahi Sarnobat) 10m air pistol: 1 (Annu Raj Singh) Trap: 1 (Shagun Chowdhary)