Peeved Abhinav shoots back at NRAI

Beijing Olympic Games gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra reacted sharply to his exclusion from the core group of shooters for the 2010 Commonwealth Games saying, "I don't know what the NRAI (National Rifle Association of India) wants from me.

Beijing Olympic Games gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra reacted sharply to his exclusion from the core group of shooters for the 2010 Commonwealth Games saying, "I don't know what the NRAI (National Rifle Association of India) wants from me. If they think I am a non-performer and have never performed for the country, they should simply let me know and I will quit the sport gracefully," said Abhinav.

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HT had carried a report on Tuesday saying that the names of all those shooters including Abhinav, RVS Rathore and Anjali Bhagwat, who were skipping the national camps and not competing in national events, had been struck off from the list of the core group for the Games.

"I had submitted my plans for the Commonwealth Games to the Sports Ministry and I am thankful to them that they are sponsoring my training under the National Sports Development Programme. Recently, I had a month-long training stint in Germany. Winning medals for the country in the CWG is my next target and I am working towards it," he added.

An agitated father of Abhinav, A.S. Bindra said: "NRAI wants Abhinav to practice in their camps. But I just want to ask them, do they have all the facilities he requires for training for the 2010 Games. They don't even have a foreign coach for the rifle events.

"Provide him all the facilities he wants, including personal coaches, and he will join the camps in India. The NRAI is unnecessary putting pressure on him and I am afraid that he might quit the sport. Since morning he is very disturbed," said the senior Bindra.