Rifle coach Szucsak on his way for third stint with Indian team

The Hungarian was India's coach between 1998-2000 and 2004-2009, and many top shooters, including Abhinav Bindra and Anjali Vedpathak, spent their formative years under Szucsak, who is renowned in the shooting community as a high-performance coach and also for his vast knowledge of equipment.

Szucsak has been offered monthly wages of $8,500 besides perks. "We have been in touch," NRAI president Raninder Singh told The Indian Express on Monday. "We have forwarded the offer letter to him and are very hopeful that he would agree to come back," he added.

Szucsak had joined as Iran's coach before the 2010 Commonwealth Games after his contract was extended only till the Delhi event.

While, Szucsak will be responsible for the junior team, Khazakh Stanislav Lapidus has been retained as the foreign coach of the senior team.

Among other foreign coaches, Atlanta Olympic champion Ennio Falco of Italy will be in charge of the skeet team, which has been without a coach since 2010 after China's Zhang Shan left in a huff. Daniella Del Din of San Marino has been assigned to mentor the junior shotgun team — both trap and double trap — while another Italian Marcello Dradi will continue with the senior team. NRAI hasn't decided the name of the pistol coach as yet.

DG spanner

Meanwhile, it's learnt that Sports Authority of India director general Gopal Krishna had objected to the names of two Indian coaches on the panel: Kunwar Randhir Singh (chief rifle coach) and Mohinder Lal (chief pistol coach).

Against Singh, there were allegations of misappropriation of the Himachal Pradesh Rifle Association (HPRA) fund — an FIR has been registered against him in Shimla. Lal, meanwhile was the director of a firm which deals with Suis Ascor, an electronic target and scoring systems supplier. Lal's name is expected to be cleared by SAI after his resignation from the firm's board, but doubts remain over Randhir.

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