Several former shooters appointed national team coaches as part of decisions taken at NRAI Governing Body meeting

Rakesh Thapliyal

New Delhi: Among several key decisions taken at the Governing Body meeting of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), held at Constitution Club in the national capital earlier today, several former Shooters were appointed as coaches of the national team. Also appointed as Head Coach (Rifle) and High-Performance Coach (25m) respectively were Dronacharya award recipients Deepali Deshpande and Jaspal Rana, who have made a comeback into the national coaching setup. In all, a total of 16 new members were appointed to the coaching team, with 19 being retained, including one coordinator (Amar Jung Singh) and two coaches (Priti Sharma and Anuja Jung) for Deaf Shooters.

Prominent among former shooters who have been appointed new national team coaches are former pistol ace Jitu Rai (Padma Shri and Khel Ratna recipient for 10m Air Pistol) as well as former internationals Pooja Ghatkar (10m Air Rifle), Pemba Tamang (25m Pistol), Amarinder Cheema (Skeet) and Varsha Tomar (Trap) among others.

Two High-Performance Managers, namely Mansher Singh and Ronak Pandit, have also been appointed for the disciplines of Shotgun and Pistol respectively. Besides Jaspal, others who have been appointed High-Performance Coaches include D.S. Chandel (Air Rifle), Anwer Sultan (Trap) and Manoj Kumar (50m Rifle). The seasoned Vikram Chopra (Shotgun) and Samaresh Jung (Pistol) have also been retained and will form a troika of Head Coaches alongside Deepali.

Other key decisions regarding the inaugural Shooting League of India (SLI) were also taken at the meeting. Among them Ms. Elena Norman, the former CEO of Hockey India, was appointed as a Consultant for the league and New Horizons Alliance Pvt. Ltd., were appointed the Commercial and Marketing Agency.

NRAI Coaches