NRAP in talks with Serbian coach for Tokyo-bound shooters

KARACHI: National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) is in talks with a renowned Serbian coach for training of the shooters who have qualified for Tokyo Olympics.

“He will confirm his availability by the end of this month. If he agrees, we will start training from May 15,” said Executive vice president of NRAP Javaid S Lodhi while talking to ‘The News’.

He added that Pakistan Sports Board has already approved the cost of training plan which may exceed Rs5 million.

“If he is not available, he will arrange his assistant for the training but we will also look for other options,” said Javaid, adding that the coach will also accompany the shooters in international events, including Tokyo Olympics.

It is worth adding here that the Tokyo-bound shooters will participate in the National Test Event scheduled in Tokyo from April 25-30.

After that, they will participate in the ISSF World Cup to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from June 21 to July 2.

Khalil Akhtar, Ghulam Mustafa Bashir and Gulfam Joseph have won quota places for Tokyo Olympics. They went to Germany in March 2020 for training which was arranged by NRAP. It cost the association more than Rs5 million.

Ghulam Mustafa Bashir of the Navy said he learned a lot from the training camp in Germany and Army’s Gulfam Joseph said that he learned many new things in Germany and he had improved much.

Army’s Khalil Akhtar said that the one-month training in Germany really helped him and they could easily win medals in the Olympics if they were provided with such training opportunities before the Olympics.