New Delhi: The Indian shooting landscape is seeing a transformation with many elite shooters working with personal coaches and following individual training programmes. In the year of the Asian Games and World Championships, some of India’s top names have chosen to train separately, opting out of the national squad camps.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) gave shooters this choice at the start of the season, allowing flexibility to plan their training in a busy year. Those to opt out include 10m pistol world champion Samrat Rana, World Championships medallists Anish Bhanwala (rapid fire), Elavenil Valarivan (air rifle), Esha Singh (air pistol) and 2022 air rifle world champion, Rudrankksh Patil. They will not attend the national camp starting at the Karni Singh Shooting Range on Tuesday.
The vacant spots in the 12-day camp have been allotted to the next best ranked shooters, providing an excellent opportunity for the next-in-line shooters. There are 10 to 12 for each event in the national squad announced last month. Teams for the World Cups in Granada, Spain (April 5–13) and Munich (May 24–31) have also been announced.
However, it is mandatory for those who have chosen to train separately also to join the short pre-departure camp ahead of these tournaments. Besides, the personal coaches will update the national coaches to keep them in sync with their plans. In all, 12 shooters in rifle and pistol events have opted out of the centralised camp.
“It’s good that shooters have been given this choice. It gives me a little bit more freedom and flexibility to plan my training,” said Anish, the World Championships silver medallist. “I train under (personal coach) Harpreet Singh and have my plans to prepare for the year. I will go for a couple of tournaments in Europe, it will help me utilise my time accordingly.”
Mumbai shooter Rudrankksh plans to train in Thane and at Chennai’s Gun For Glory academy. “This is the first time I am not in the camp, so it’s new for me as well. I have been travelling non-stop since 2025, so I took a break in February. I wanted to spend time with my family. I am in Chennai now to train under Neha Chavan, and then I will train in Thane under my first coach Ajit Patil. It gives me this opportunity to be at home and train before travel for the international circuit,” he said.
“My coach will keep the national coaches informed,” he said. “It will help when I am with them during international matches. It’s a good system. Personally, I would like to wait and see how this arrangement works for me.”
The elite shooters who have sponsors or are part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) can bear the cost of their personal coaches and individualised training programmes. Since most elite shooters have personal coaches, it had been a tricky issue for NRAI. However, before the Paris Olympics, it opened up to the idea of personal coaches coming to national camps, and even travelling with the shooters for international events. This policy will further help bridge the gap while allowing the bench to train at the national camp.
