Manavjit's Disqualification Unjust, Will Take Issue To 'Logical Conclusion', Says NRAI

The National Rifle Association of India has termed the disqualification of trap shooter Manavjit Singh by organisers of the Asia Olympic Qualifiers in Kuwait as “unjust” and “unfair”, and is ready to take the issue to its “logical conclusion”. The NRAI also said that the rules quoted by the Asian Shooting Confederation while barring the former world champion from competition due to a ‘faulty’ gun stock were “unsubstantiated” and “frivolous”. “Depending on his ranking as per the NRAI policy and how much the issue of this particular gun stock and whether this stock would be allowed or not in the future.” Asked about the issue with the stock, Singhdeo said, “As far as I understand, there is only one issue with the stock… that it should not be more than 170cm from head to toe and Manav’s is below that. I am unaware of where he got his stock made, what gun he uses, frankly.” On whether the NRAI has a list of authorised stock-makers in india, he said, “I don’t think NRAI would be in any way connected with authorising anybody to retrofit weapons.” On whether there were people in India doing the retrofitting, Singhdeo said, “Again, I am not particularly aware of the issue but you have gunsmiths. That’s what the job of a gunsmith is, to repair, retrofit, adjust weapons.” Asked if he would ensure a proper “weapons control” in India to avoid such issues in future, he said there’s “never ever been a reason for NRAI to do weapons control around shotgun” earlier as this has never happened before.