Date:01/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/01/stories/2008080155891700.htm

Sport - Olympic Games

Things are going on smoothly: Sethi

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The leading Indian shooters, Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu, have taken a head start over the rest of the Indian contingent by reaching Beijing early to get acclimatised to the conditions.

Rathore flew into Beijing from his training base in Italy, while Manavjit reached from here a few days back.

“I saw the shooters train for about three hours this morning. They are doing well and have their own ammunition too. The rowers are also here and training well. We have been looked after well and things are going on smoothly,” said Baljit Singh Sethi, the deputy chef de mission, when contacted by The Hindu.

Sethi said that about 20 per cent of the athletes from all over the world have already reached Beijing.

“There is a lot of pollution. It’s raining now and more showers have been predicted for Friday. Hopefully, the rain will clear the atmosphere quite a bit,” said Sethi.

The swimmers are scheduled to fly from Bangalore on August 2, while the archers and judokas will follow them a couple of days later.

The rifle and pistol shooters, training in Malaysia, are scheduled to reach Beijing on August 3. World champion Abhinav Bindra will fly from his training base in Germany to Beijing on Friday.

The rest, except the athletics team, are expected to reach in time for the opening ceremony.