Shooter Apurvi will gradually increase intensity after COVID: Coach

Apurvi, who qualified in the women's 10 metres air rifle event, is part of the Indian team that is undergoing a two-month-long camp that started on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Olympic Games-bound rifle shooter Apurvi Chandela will gradually increase intensity at the Indian national camp in Zagreb, Croatia, as she is yet to recover fully from a bout of COVID-19, said her coach Rakesh Manpat on Thursday.

Apurvi, who qualified in the women's 10 metres air rifle event, is part of the Indian team that is undergoing a two-month-long camp that started on Wednesday.

"She fell ill in the last week of last month. Since her Covid-19 test came negative she boarded a charter flight to Croatia with the national team on Tuesday. But we plan to gradually move to hard training," Manpat said.

"This week will be easy as we all are undergoing a seven-day quarantine in Zagreb. The next week we will go to ranges for training. But we don't have plans to push hard," he said.

After Apurvi, 28, tested positive for the virus she was home quarantined in Jaipur for 15 days.

Apurvi is recovering well and she should be resuming normal training by the end of this month, said Manpat.

"She did mild training on Thursday in her room. The training session was for about 40 minutes. I'm taking feedback each day on how she feels. It will help us to move forward. Good health is important to shoot high scores," he said.

Bengaluru-based Manpat, too, had tested positive for Coronavirus in the second week of April. "All is good now. I'm fit and looking forward to good training sessions," he said.

The national team will also compete in the European Shooting Championships, starting on May 21 in Osijek, and the Zagreb World Cup in June.