Jaspal Rana blasts NRAI's decision to resume training

During his prime as a shooter, Jaspal Rana barely missed the mark. Right from winning a silver medal in the national championships at a tender age of 12 to golds at the international level, Rana loved nailing the bulls-eye with deadly accuracy. The same sharpness can be felt in his words too, the pistol pro never the one to shy away from stating his point.

“It’s totally ridiculous,” was the 44-year-old national coach’s instant reaction when DH reached out to him for his thoughts on National Rifle Association of India’s decision to kick-start the national camp for the Olympic core group at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi from August 1.

“It’s too early to resume training at Karni Singh. Who will take responsibility if a shooter tests positive? I assure you no one will. That poor kid will be struggling by himself or herself. Tughlakabad in South East Delhi where the range is located is one of the major hotspots with lots of cases being reported. People there are taking all the precaution but still they are getting infected.

“Corona spares no-one and there’s enough evidence to it. Famous celebrities, world leaders and rich people taking all the precautions are being infected. Also I believe NRAI has made attendance mandatory. This is downright ridiculous. Don’t make policies sitting at home. Most of the top shooters are training at home and they are looking after themselves quite well. NRAI should have just continued with that. There are no events for the foreseeable future, so I see no point in forcing them to train at Karni Singh,” Rana opined.

A large part of Rana’s current anger against the establishment is because of his immense love for shooting. After an accomplished career that saw him win four gold, two silver and an equal number of bronze medals at the Asian Games, Rana dabbled into politics in 2008. He lost the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket and then moved to Congress in 2012. However, his true love remained shooting and today he is instrumental in polishing gems like Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary.

“One can’t sail in two boats at the same time,” Rana quipped. “I’ve sacrificed my political life for shooting. It’s hard to maintain a balance between coaching top shooters and being a politician. I constantly keep travelling and it’s hard for me to devote adequate time to my constituency. I fought for the MP election and I lost out on a small number. People said I didn’t have the courtesy to thank people who voted for me. I wanted to but right after the elections I got busy with training. My priority now will be to get my shooters to win medals for my country.”

Rana has been constantly praised for the work he has put in the junior programme that has seen several youngsters rise to world-class levels quite rapidly. So much so when he missed out on winning a deserved Dronacharya award last year, even Abhinav Bindra expressed anguish. Rana, who has nominated himself again this year, chose not to take much credit for the success of Bhaker and Chaudhary.

“When they came to us, they were already quite talented. We work with largely elite shooters. In common man’s terms, we are like Delhi’s Stephen’s College where they induct students above 95%. The college ensures that those students are given the best facilities and increase their percentage from 95 to 99. That’s what I do with talented shooters, ensure they become world-class performers from just being national-level shooters."

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“My primary duty is to protect them, especially from their families and other shooters at the range and keep them grounded, which is the toughest part. If you take away their phone, their time with their friends, you become their enemy No 1. To get the result, you have to be strict.”

With the Olympics postponed to next year owing to the coronavirus pandemic, Rana felt shooters need to stay focussed if they desire to win a medal. "It will be a different scenario. Whatever we prepared for this year, we need to carry it forward to the next year. One must understand, we are working with a lot of teenagers and they need to be given time. Right now nobody knows what the Chinese shooters are doing. How are they training and what are they doing. We need to be on our toes," he cautioned.