Ever since trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won silver at the Athens Olympics four years ago, the country has been pinning its hopes on shooters to pick up a medal or two in Beijing. But the rate at which things are moving has the shooting fraternity worried.

Five of the Beijing-bound air-rifle and pistol shooters have not yet acquired first-rate ammunition to test themselves ahead of the Games.

Rifle shooter Anjali Bhagwat, Avneet Sindhu, Gagan Narang and ace pistol marksman Samresh Jung will get the right ammunition to train and shoot at the Beijing ranges only next week when they reach Hanover, Germany. The only exception is rifle-shooter Abhinav Bindra, who has the elementary requirements at his disposal.

Chief national coach, Sunny Thomas, admitted that this was a big problem, especially with the Olympics almost around the corner now. “Unfortunately, the shooters are still in the process of getting the right kind of ammunition. We are talking to manufacturing units in Europe. Hopefully, we will get the desired ammunition shortly.”

National Rifle Association of India secretary-general Baljeet Singh Sethi blamed it on the change in the government policy since November 2007. As per the new guidelines from the Sports Ministry, the federations have been told to import all consumable items, with the money to be reimbursed later.

“It takes at least four to five months to import ammunition because of the paper work involved. Moreover, in an Olympic year, the manufacturers are not able to cope with the pressure of demand for ammunition. And with just 50 per cent advance from the Sports Authority of India, we had to find our own money for the imports,” he said. Of the five shooters, four will leave for Hanover early next week for a five-week training stint. Narang will join the team later.

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