NEW DELHI, March 25: The athletes are playing the waiting game for now but coaches involved with India�s Olympic-bound bunch have already put their thinking hats on to redraw the preparation plans a day after the Games got postponed to 2021.
The deadly COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented postponement as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Japanese government and the athletes world over agreed that Olympics in July-August this year could not have gone ahead in the present circumstances.
�It is going to affect the shooters in a big way, especially the young ones who are appearing in their first Olympics. We have been preparing for the past three years. Having said that, we need to accept this without any complaints,� national pistol shooting coach Jaspal Rana told PTI.
So far, close to 80 Indian athletes have qualified for the Games and the number is expected to swell once the qualifiers re-start. Shooters are almost always considered India�s best bet for Olympic medals. � PTI
