Aggrieved by the national shooting federation for repeatedly “ignoring” his candidature for the post of national coach, Olympic silver-medallist Vijay Kumar has written to National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Kalikesh Singh Deo, requesting him to take note of his “unparalleled achievements” and give him the opportunity to groom the next generation of shooters.

2012 London Olympics silver-medallist Vijay Kumar, one of the finest rapid-fire pistol exponents, said he feels demotivated when he sees some coaches with absolutely “no international experience or performance” being selected for top coaching jobs.

Deo, however, said he is not aware of any letter from Vijay, but the Olympics silver-medallist is a “very deserving candidate”. “We will revaluate the matter after the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan from August 16 to 30. We will be taking some new coaches and removing some old ones,” said Deo.

The NRAI governing body had appointed about 35 coaches and high-performance experts in February, including renowned names like Jaspal Rana and Deepali Deshpande, but Vijay’s name did not figure in the list.

“I had reached out to you after being ignored by the selection committee for the position of pistol coach of the Indian shooting team in February 2025, and you had assured me of a re-look at the decision,” said Vijay in his letter to Deo.

He said he had reached out to the NRAI secretary-general and members of the selection committee to understand the reasons his non-selection to the coaching panel, but did not receive any satisfactory answer.

Vijay, a DSP in Himachal Pradesh and a Khel Ratna awardee who has also won multiple Commonwealth Games medals, said it is his moral obligation to bring up the next generation of shooters and he had it in him to mentally prepare them for big competitions. He alleged that some of the selected coaches had a history of doping or indiscipline, and yet they had been included.