Shooter Abhinav Bindra who is part of the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme, has lauded the government for its initiative terming it a positive change from previous years.
Bindra’s task is to identify athletes who should receive funding to help their task of winning a medal at the Rio Olympics next year. “Top scheme is a proactive step. Earlier the athletes had to apply well in advance but now it’s a proactive sort of a situation where the government is going out to the athletes and offering them support,” he said at the logo launch of 8th Asian Airgun Championship slated for September 25 - October 1.
Even though he disagreed that shooting was an elite sport, he admitted that additional funds need to come in for Olympic Sports and to achieve that, corporates need to step up. “I would be happy if more support is offered but all organisations have their limitations. It will be great to see more corporate support coming in for Olympic sports in general. It would be great to see Olympic sports being supported as part of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities,” said the Beijing Olympics gold medallist on Tuesday.
Expect 5+ medals: Raninder
National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) chief Raninder Singh made bold predictions at the event by saying he expects 11 shooters to make the trip to Brazil with one reserve and come back with more than five medals in the bag. He also revealed Sports Authority of India (SAI) has released `4.30 crore for upgradation of Karni Singh Shooting Range for the Championship in the capital.