Shooters need more than just ammunition

[danish21]

Shooters need more than just ammunition
Ajai Masand
[email protected]
New Delhi May 21

ABOUT 115 days of competition and trials in a year, approximately 130 days of camps, and if that's not enough, close to 25 days of travelling - both inside and outside the country. That's how hectic the lives of top shooters in the country have become.

But strange as it may seem, despite bringing home silverware from all over the world, they still don't have a small team of 'caretakers' to keep their bodies in shape. Fulfilling the requirements of a masseur-cum-physiotherapist and a mental trainer shouldn't be such a big deal, but sadly, it has been ignored. The result: mounting injuries and dipping performances. Ask any top-notch shooter about the grinds of international shooting and he will tell you that he has suffered from a debilitating back or neck or knee problem at some point of time.

World champion rifle marksman Abhinav Bindra was out with a debilitating back problem for a year-and-a-half, World Cup gold-medallist Gagan Narang has spoken all along about a niggling back problem and he almost missed the Asian Games in Doha because of a severe neck pain. Melbourne Commonwealth Games star Samresh Jung is afflicted with stiffness in the back off and on, and so are many other shooters. But the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) have not paid much attention to their problems.

"Yes, the problem is quite grim among the regulars, but we haven't seriously made a demand for support staff," says National coach Sunny Thomas. "Even youngsters like Shweta Chaudhary and Annuraj Singh are suffering." He concedes that the workload on shooters has increased manifold over the years and that they are still relying on the good old "balms supplied by SAI".

Abhinav Bindra, who has suffered the most, says he has been demanding a qualified masseur-cum-physio for a long time. "It's absolutely a basic requirement. I don't know why they are taking it lightly. Had there been a physio, I wouldn't have had such a debilitating back problem which has cost me in excess of a crore of rupees," says the Chandigarh based marksman.

Delhi pistol shooter Samresh Jung, who bagged five gold at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, is equally perplexed by the fact that there is no support staff. "We stand in weird positions 5-6 hours a day and are stiff by the time we complete our sessions," says Samresh, adding that he keeps having recurring back problems. "Imagine, we've just returned from a 47- day tour spanning three continents and now are stiff. What do you expect when you are training 280 days a year? Now we leave for Munich for another fortnight," he says.

Coach Thomas says that support staff is a sign of professionalism. "The body changes with different climatic conditions and a physio and mental trainer should be part of the squad." And the vocal Jaspal Rana, triple gold-medallist at the Doha Asian Games, strikes at the root cause. "They take managers, loads of coaches and other officials for international tournaments just because they come from state associations and are a vote bank of the Federation," he says.

"The Chinese and the Australians have two support staff for each shooter. They know every requirement of their wards," says Bindra and adds that shooting demands someone who knows the sport inside out to treat us, not the ordinary masseurs and physios." Time for NRAI and SAI to sit up and take notice. It doesn't pay to kill the golden goose.