New Delhi, July 17: Not required to undergo any quarantine ahead of the Olympics, the Indian shooters will begin training at the venue from July 19, having got their rooms allotted at the Games Village after arriving in Tokyo in the wee hours of Saturday.
The shooting events will be held at the Asaka Shooting Range, which is located in Saitama Prefecture, north west Tokyo. The venue also hosted the shooting competition at the 1964 Olympics.
“They have settled down at the village, rooms are being allotted at the Games Village and they will begin training from 19th July. There is no quarantine or any isolation required as they have arrived from Croatia,” National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) secretary Rajiv Bhatia told PTI.
He said the formalities on arrival at the Narita international airport were carried out smoothly and the contingent did not face any hassle with provisions for social distancing in place.
On Monday, the shooters might visit the range to get a feel of the Games.
“There is jet leg after the long flight from Europe. So they will train after taking proper rest. They might check out the range tomorrow.”
The Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8, with the shooting events starting a day after the opening ceremony and covering the first 10 days of the extravaganza, which will be held without spectators owing to the pandemic.
Members of other disciplines arriving from India and few other nations hit hard by the coronavirus are supposed to do a three-day mandatory quarantine on arriving in the Japanese capital.
The Indian shooting team left Zagreb on Friday after completing an 80-long competition-cum-training stint in the Balkan nation.
In Amsterdam, its stopover before taking the flight to Tokyo, the 13-member pistol and rifle team were joined by the two skeet shooters – Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Angad Vir Singh – who were training in Italy.
The Indian contingent had shifted base to Zagreb in May as it was considered safer for them to train there at a time when the country reeled under a devastating second wave of the pandemic.
During their stay in Croatia, the Indian shooters took part in the European Championships in Osijek, from May 29 to June 6, before participating in the last World Cup before the Olympics, from June 22 to July 3, at the same venue.
India will be represented by a record 15 shooters at the Tokyo Games. The Indian team has eight rifle, five pistol and two skeet shooters, besides coaches and support staff members.
The shooting events begin on July 24 with 10m air rifle for women and 10m air pistol for men.
Before the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Indian shooters consistently dominated the sport, finishing top of the table in four ISSF World Cups in 2019.
Also, Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu had her first practice session in Tokyo on Saturday. Mirabai, along with her coach Vijay Sharma, assistant coach Sandeep Kumar and other members of the staff had landed in Tokyo from the training base in St Louis, USA on Friday.
Athletes of different disciplines have already arrived and started to practice. The rowing team of Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh also reached Tokyo on Friday and are practising for their event, men’s lightweight double sculls. (PTI)
