India’s shooting campaign at the Asian Games has been hit by a surprise logistical problem even before the athletes could get to Japan. A number of accommodation and transportation problems have been reported for Indian shooting players, with Palembang Asian Games gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat being the latest athlete to be stuck in the mess.
According to NDTV, after arriving in Nagoya, Sarnobat was not able to find the room that had been booked for her at the hotel. The incident came after earlier reports described the accommodation issues faced by India’s 35-member shooting contingent after their arrival in Japan.
The athletes reached Japan on Wednesday, but they had to wait for a long time to get to their hotel. Problems continued after they got to the hotel, with the rooms that had been booked for the Indian athletes not being available to them.
According to the booking reference list obtained by the paper, 40 rooms had been reserved for the Indian shooting contingent. The list was provided to the Indian Olympic Association by the organisers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. But when the shooters reached the Grand Tiara Hotel they were told that only seven rooms were available there.
The remaining 33 rooms had been allocated to another property under the Toyoko Inn name. This meant that members of the contingent had to be accommodated across different properties despite the original booking arrangements.
The accommodation confusion then became more complicated when another group of five shooting contingent members arrived later. In fact, Sarnobat was with another batch of athletes. When a coach went to the Grand Tiara Hotel to collect the key for Sarnobat's room, he was told that the room was not available because it was allocated for doping controls.
The situation was particularly unusual because the room had allegedly been included in the Indian Olympic Association’s booking, while the booking records provided by the Asian Games organisers also indicated that the reservation existed.
Sarnobat arrived in Nagoya on Friday night and went to a Toyoko Inn property. But the city has many hotels under the same brand name, which adds another layer of confusion to the accommodation arrangements.
According to the report, Sarnobat was given the keys to a room even though she had apparently reached the wrong Toyoko Inn property. The episode left the Asian Games gold medallist staying at a different hotel from the one where her room was originally expected to be available.
The accommodation issue was preceded by another logistical issue that came up after the contingent landed in Japan. The Indian shooters and coaches arrived at the airport around 9 pm on Tuesday and completed customs forms by around 11 pm. Their accreditation process at the validation centre was reportedly completed within about 15 minutes.
However, the contingent had a long wait for transportation. The athletes and coaches were left at the accreditation centre from at least 11:45 pm to 3 am without transport arrangements being made.
In fact, for athletes preparing for a multi-sport competition, such disruption can be even more challenging during the crucial arrival and acclimatisation process. Shooting events require athletes to focus, have their routines, and time for competition which may entail qualification rounds and finals.
The reported logistical difficulties have thus added an unwanted layer of concern to India’s shooting campaign. India has usually come to major multi-sport events with expectations from its shooters, and the contingent includes athletes looking to compete for medals across multiple events.
But the accommodation problems do not necessarily indicate how the Indian shooting team will perform in competition. Now the athletes will be focused on training, familiarising themselves with the competition environment and preparing for their respective events.
The latest episode also puts the spotlight on coordination between the Indian contingent, the Olympic association, and the organisers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Booking records, room allocations, and transportation arrangements are all essential components of the logistical planning required for a large international sporting event.
With the competition coming up, it will be crucial to resolve such issues as quickly as possible for the athletes and support staff. In the end, Sarnobat and the rest of the shooting contingent will move from accommodation confusion to the shooting range as India begins its medal campaign at the Asian Games.
