20-odd shooters may pay for competing to ‘kill boredom’

By Navneet Singh New Delhi, Feb 4 : Some shooters who competed in unauthorised online competitions to “kill boredom” during the Covid-enforced lockdown last year could end up paying a heavy price for their transgression. To begin with, their identity cards have been blocked.
Without identity numbers no shooter can compete in any competition, as it is mandatory to submit that along with entry fee and match details to compete in domestic competitions, from state to nationals.
The issue will be taken up at the parent shooting body, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), at its annual general body meeting here on Friday. A decision on those who transgressed — there are over 20 shooters — who competed in unauthorised competitions may be taken at the meeting.
Despite issuing a warning the shooters chose to compete in non-sanctioned competitions, pointed out NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia. “The governing body will decide what action should to be taken,” Bhatia told IANS.
The first shooters to be affected are two Delhi boys who might be denied entry to the Delhi State Shooting Championships starting on Monday in nearby Gaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
The Delhi State Rifle Association (DSRA) has turned down their requests for participation in the Delhi meet citing their blocked identity cards. “Without the consent of the NRAI we can’t entertain them. Even if there is a favourable decision, we have to check whether the system will accept the entries since everything is online and there is no procedure for manual entries,” DSRA secretary Rajiv Sharma told IANS.