Indian shooters return after being forced to spend night in hotel lobby

The shooters were in London to participate in the ISSF World Cup, a qualifying event for the Olympics.

The players were asked to vacate their rooms around midnight due to a miscommunication between the organisers and the agency responsible to manage the stay of the shooters.

Gagan Narang (L) and Abhinav Bindra (R). Photo: Rajeev Tyagi

The incident came as a huge embarrassment for the players as they were stranded in the hotel without any accommodation.

Team coach Deep Bhatia said the incident was humiliating for the team and expressed anguish over the inhospitable treatment meted out to them.

The Indian High Commission, however, swiftly swung into action and players were soon shifted to another hotel.

Lashing out at England federation, Bhatia added that it was not the first time that they were subjected to such treatment in London.

The organisers had, reportedly, reserved the room for the Indian contingent till April 28. However,later they asked an agency to extend the bookings for a day for which they had made the payments.

"After the booking, they suddenly told us to vacate the rooms around midnight, saying that they had not extended the booking. They had taken money and had issued a receipt as well," Bhatia added.