'Our Coaches Were Fighting': Rudrankksh Patil On Hotel Accommodation Issues At Asian Games

Our coaches were fighting: Rudrankksh Patil on hotel accommodation issues at Asian Games (Aichi: Asian Games 2026 - Mens Shooting)

Double Asian Games: Double Asian Games 2026 medallist Rudrankksh Patil opened up on the accommodation issues he and his other shooting contingent faced during their travel to Japan for the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

Patil clinched a silver and a bronze in the 10m Air Rifle team and individual event, respectively. Speaking to the media after the win, the fabled shooter highlighted the travel and accommodation issues he and his team had to face.

"So, while we were going from Bhopal to Delhi and from Delhi to Japan via Hong Kong, it was a long travel for us from Bhopal to Delhi. Our flight had some issues, and we did an emergency landing in Jaipur," Patil told reporters after his twin medals.

"From there.... we went to Delhi. The next day, we had our flight. In the evening, we took the flight and came to Japan. It was an almost five-hour flight to Hong Kong, then six hours, seven hours halt in Hong Kong. And then again, from Hong Kong to Japan, it was five hours flight. And after reaching here, within five minutes, everything was cleared," he said on the travel.

Patil then highlighted that the contingent had to wait for hours for their bus to arrive, and then the coaches had an altercation with the hotel staff after they were not offered the hotel they booked their rooms in.

"We went to the welcoming centre. It took us three hours to wait for the bus over there. At 2 or 3 am, we started leaving for the hotel and reached there at around 3:30 or 4 am. After reaching the hotel, we realised that the hotel we had booked was not our hotel, we only had a couple of rooms over there, and that was supposed to be the best hotel.

"And our coaches were fighting over there that if you can give us the confirmation for the best hotel, then how are you shifting us to some other hotel?" he highlighted.

Patil further stated that the organisers had an accommodation of an apparent village, where the main hotel is connected to the other ones and they were offered much smaller rooms.

"So, apparently, they had that village thing that one hotel was the main hotel and everything; every other hotel was connected to that hotel. And whatever room was empty, they were supposed to give us in that way. It did not work in the reservation way. So, it was quite disappointing to know that, but we had a hotel beside the main hotel.

"The rooms are very small. We cannot open our suitcases over here, but our coaches promptly decided that these rooms are too small to have them with double occupancy. So, the coaches gave every shooter single occupancy, and that made us stay much more comfortable. And this room is small, but it's comfortable also. It's cosy also. I love this room now," he added.

The 2023 Hangzhou Games gold medallist from the team event, Patil, further stressed another issue the contingent faced, and that was delayed buses, which was later solved by the Indian authorities.

"Then the second issue was with the bus. Japanese are known for their time efficiency, but it was very difficult to see that the buses were coming on time. It took two hours to reach, rather than the 70 minutes, which they had promised, and it took two and a half hours to reach.

"So, that was a big problem. The next day, they solved it. The return bus issue was solved by providing us with more buses, but for going (to the competition), we had no guarantee because they did not know how many athletes were coming and how many are going to leave. The bus's capacity was 50. So, our government provided us with private cars. So, every rifle, pistol and shotgun (teams), were given one car, or one car per day.

"And then whoever has a match will take the car so that no one misses the match, or even if the bus is delayed or due to any circumstance, the car will always be on time. So, again, yesterday was the women's match (rifle women's match); they took the car yesterday, and we had a match today; so, we took the car today.

"So, that was a big problem. The next day, they solved it. The return bus issue was solved by providing us with more buses, but for going (to the competition), we had no guarantee because they did not know how many athletes were coming and how many are going to leave. The bus's capacity was 50. So, our government provided us with private cars. So, every rifle, pistol and shotgun (teams), were given one car, or one car per day.

He also heaped praise on how Japan has been working ecologically on providing food so that minimal food is wasted. "Other than that, Japan is always the first one to have a sustainable, ecological way of conducting tournaments, and that's what they are doing. They ask us if we are going to have lunch or dinner or breakfast and they create the food items accordingly," he said.

Article Source: IANS