Thomas won’t shoot off his mouth on medals

Says training and competitions in Europe immediate priority but blueprint for Beijing ready

The Indian shooting blueprint is ready. And it is set to begin with the December Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait. But the actual training, as chief national coach Sunny Thomas put it, would begin in January 2008. “Eight months’ training before the Games in August is just about right,” he told The Indian Express here today.

For the team’s training, Thomas identifies two places: Bangalore and Germany. “There are various factors that go in favour of Bangalore as a venue for the camp — the facilities and weather.” However, the Indians will up the ante with their participation in European competitions in January and February. “That’s why we have decided on Germany as the base in Europe. The ambience is good for shooting,” he explained.

As for Bangalore, the chief coach says renovation to the ranges will do a world of good to the shooters as modern facilities (read electronic targets) will be introduced. “Everything will be in place before next March.” For the coach, the build-up plan begins with the Asian championships where India hope to get a few more ‘quota’ berths. The chief coach was of the view that shooters participating in Olympics should also take part in all world-level competitions from January onwards to prepare themselves for Beijing.

Of course, a little break in between competitions is also needed and, as part of their plans, top shooters will give a skip to the season’s first world cup in 2008, but will take part in the subsequent ones because the competitions will be held in Beijing. “It will give our shooters not only a chance to rub shoulders with the best before the big event, but also enable them to get a feel of the ranges.”

In spite of branding Bangalore as the best option in India, the coach felt that the best way to prepare for the Olympics would be to train abroad. “The training generally gets disrupted for one reason or another in India,” he added, pointing out to renovation plans.Asked to elaborate on ideal conditions, he says good training facilities apart, the place should have the right kind of environ for shooters to concentrate on training.

Talking on the shooters’ Hanover and Beijing prospects, Thomas said he would not want to count the medals right now. “We have eight months to chalk out our training and other programmes. Our immediate priority is training and competing in Europe. On a given day, anyone can upset anyone. We got a silver in Athens and the results will be certainly better in Beijing,” he signed off with a smile.