Since the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will finalise the Indian squad for the Beijing Games at the end of the two World Cup events, the performance of top shooters, particularly those who have achieved ‘quota’ places will be vital to their selection.

NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia was categorical when he said that individual performance of all the nine shooters who have booked their quota places would be taken into account before naming the squad for the Olympics.

Inconsistency worries

This is where the hitch is because none of the shooters have been consistent in their performance since their winning the quota berths. While most nations have already decided on their squads, the NRAI seems to have delayed its announcement because of the shooters’s inconsistency.

The officials also reiterated that the shooters who have clinched the quota berths could not take it for granted as “quota” is allotted to the country and not to the individuals. “Therefore all the shooters have to prove themselves consistently to gain the ticket to Beijing,” added Bhatia.

Only Gagan Narang managed a bronze medal in Beijing World Cup while most others could not even make it to the finals.

Though Bhatia does not want to give a firm answer whether there would be any change in the squad, he hinted that the possibility could not be ruled out. This means the next 15 days are crucial for rifle and pistol shooters.

All quota place winners and other top shooters of the country are participating in Germany (May 15 -22) and Italy (May 22-30) World Cups.

Top guns disappointing

As for shotgun shooters, the World Cup events in Suhl (June 2 to 13) and Belgrade (June 13 to 22) will provide great opportunities to showcase their talent and firm up their booking to Beijing. Like the pistol and rifle shooters, the performance of big-bore shooters too hasn’t been noteworthy. All top guns — Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Mansher Singh, Manavjit Singh and Ronjan Sodhi — competed in the two world cups in Beijing and Kerrville. But except Sodhi, who set a national record in double trap in Kerrville, the performance of other shooters has been below par.