Shotgun shooter permitted to compete in nationals despite not meeting criteria

The national shooting federation which is fighting a court battle to uphold its selection criteria in the ongoing trials for the Paris Olympics seems to have bent the rules for one marksman recently allowing him to participate despite lowerthanrequisite scoresTrap marksman Karan missed the National Rifles Association of Indias NRAI criteria for shotgun selection trials by two points but was allowed to compete while several others who shot identical scores during last years National Championships were not consideredA letter issued by NRAI in November announcing Selection Trials as per Shotgun Selection Criteria 2024 amp Olympic Selection Criteria 2024 for Shotgun event states that shooters with a score of 110 in senior mens trap during the 66th National Championship OctoberNovember 2023 were eligible for the exercise held between December 2023 and March 2024Karan an Army marksman shot 108 in the National Championships but his was the only recommendation accepted by the NRAI while the same exception was not made for a dozen more shooters who shot identical scoresAlso ReadIPL 2024 You have to have a big heart Sandeep on bowling death oversThe shooter competed in a series of four selection trials and is currently ranked 15th thus failing to make the national squadNRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia told PTI that since Karan is a budding shooter and his recommendation had come from the Army an exception was made for himWe did give an exception as he is a budding good shooter There was a difference of just two points and he has been shooting good scores Thats why we introduced him in the trials for selecting the teams for World Cups World Championships everything including Olympics said BhatiaWe cannot simply go by the rule book lakeer ke fakeer nahin ban sakte There was a recommendation from the Army to allow him for national trials because he had shot very well at the National Games in GoaKaran representing Services Sports Control Board was the first to be eliminated in the trap finals at the National Games in Goa finishing sixthThe NRAI ironically is locked in a legal battle with some Olympic aspirants in the Delhi High Court where it is insisting that no more than top five shooters in rifle and pistol would be allowed in the ongoing trialsThe process has come under criticism from no less than former national coach and legendary pistol shooter Jaspal Rana who has said that the federation is not following international normsAsked why the trials were not opened for marksmen who shot identical scores at the Nationals Bhatia said I think we allowed him under a special criteria because of his previous scoresBhatia added that giving an exception in trials didnt mean he was selected in the national squad for international competitions like the World Cups and World ChampionshipsSo was he selected for the World Cups No we just gave him an opportunity he said Every state recommends shooters to be included in trials and we go by the merit A marksman can shoot a bad score in a competition One day you can shoot a bad scoreAsked what NRAI would have done had he topped the trials Bhatia said If somebody is performing then why not name him in the Olympic squad How can we not consider him for Olympics if he had performed Aim is to select the best athleteBut he is not going for any competition As on today he is nowhere in the national ranking I think his ranking is very low after the trials But if he had beaten the field he would have been in contentionHe added that an exception had also been made for the shooter to promote shotgun shooting as it is not as popular as pistol and rifleShotgun we have to promote as the numbers are very less compared to pistol rifle and other categories it was a recommendation of the Army Marksmanship Unit which is an affiliate unit of the NRAI It was only one case we did not open it for everybody Just one time exceptionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever