Shooting
Jitu Rai appointed 10m pistol national coach; Jaspal Rana returns
The NRAI has appointed Jitu Rai, the 2016 Olympian and Padma Shri awardee, as the national coach for 10m pistol events.
Indian shooter Jitu Rai (FILE Photo)
Jitu Rai has marked a return to the Indian national shooting setup, this time as a coach. He was appointed as the 10m air pistol coach by the National Rifle Association of India on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the controversial Jaspal Rana also returns to the fold as the designated high performance coach for 25m pistol events.
Rana will be joined by DS Chandel (air rifle), Anwer Sultan (trap), and Manoj Kumar (50m rifle) as high performance coaches for their respective events.
Deepali Deshpande, who was awarded the Dronacharya award last month, has been named the head coach for rifle events.
The other two head coaches include Vikram Chopra for shotgun events and Samaresh Jung for pistol competitions.
Former international shooters like Pooja Ghatkar, Pemba Tamang, Amarinder Cheema, and Varsha Tomar have also been roped in as coaches in various capacities.
The national federation has also named Mansher Singh and Ronak Pandit as the High Performance Managers for shotgun and pistol events respectively.
In total, the NRAI has made 16 new appointments to the national setup, while retaining 19 of the previous members.
Moreover as per reports, Elena Norman – who resigned as the CEO of Hockey India early last year – is slated to return to the country as a consultant for the Shooting League of India, which the NRAI is planning to launch.
