The National Shooting Federation-Bangladesh is all set to start a long-term training camp for the top shooters with an eye on international success, said federation
general secretary Inthekhabul Hamid Apu on Wednesday.
The federation initially selected top six shooters from the 12th Bangladesh Games and the camp is set to begin June 2.
About 55 shooters will join the camp initially, which will continue for three months.
The federation, however, said that it will try to continue the camp until the Asian Games which will be held next year in Incheon, South Korea.
After every month’s training the federation will organise a competition and monitor the progress of the shooters. If someone is found to have not made any significant progress the federation will drop him, said the official.
However, the camp, which is the first serious initiative by the newly-elected body, created little enthusiasm as the federation could not confirm any foreign coach. It was decided initially that four local coaches will run the camp.
The new executive committee of the federation organised only one competition so far in their first six months when they held the National Air Gun Championship in February.
`We have financial problems and we are trying to solve it,’ general secretary Apu told reporters on Wednesday. ‘We will start talking with the sponsor soon. If the financial crisis is solved maybe we will be able to organise all regular events.’
`We have a dream that we want to achieve success at international levels regularly. To fulfil the vision we want a high-profile coach. We have already asked the Bangladesh Olympic Association to help us in bringing high quality coach and we are hopeful that the BOA will give us assistance to appoint a foreign coach.’
`The BOA wished to give us some funds to continue the camp but we told them that we do not want money, we want a high-profile coach. If the BOA provides the coach’s salary we will meet other demands,’ he added.
Meanwhile, Asif Hossain Khan, the gold medal winner at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, was given a wild card to join the camp despite him finishing ninth in the 10-metre Air Rifle event in the Bangladesh Games.
`He is an experienced shooter and he has the potentiality to do better in the international tournaments, so the executive committee decided to give him a last chance,’ Apu explained.
Armin Asha, an Air Pistol shooter, also got a similar wild card but Tripti Dutta, the South Asian Games gold medallist in the 10-meter air rifle event, did not get the chance to join the camp as she did not participate in the Bangladesh Games for her HSC exam.
It was learnt that Sharmin Akhter Ratna and Towfik Shahriar Chandan, two air rifle shooters, could be excluded from the training camp due to their unsporting behaviour during the Bangladesh Games.
Ratna and Chandan had an altercation with a federation official during the Bangladesh Games. The federation asked their respective clubs to look into the matter and Ratna said she has already received a show-cause letter from her team Ansar.
`They [Bangladesh Ansar] gave me show cause notice and I gave my reply to them and the federation also told me to join the upcoming training camp,’ said Ratna, who won two gold medals in the 10m air rifle individual and team events at the South Asian Games.
-With New Age input
