Army hires Kovalenko to train shooters

KARACHI: Pakistan Army has hired Vladimir Kovalenko from Belarus to train its shooters at Jhelum Shooting Range, ‘The News’ has learnt.

The coach was hired by Pakistan Navy two years back.

“I have signed a contract with Pakistan Army. I am happy as I enjoyed working with Pakistan Navy,” said Kovalenko while talking to this scribe. “I hope that the Army’s team will improve a lot within a few months,” he added.

He said that the key to success in shooting sports was to have a strong mind. “I am sure Army’s team will improve much in next two to three months,” said Kovalenko, who has trained Navy’s Ghulam Mustafa Bashir in rapid fire pistol category who later got a Tripartite Commission invitation place to represent Pakistan in Rio Olympics.

“Bashir is a winner and I am sure he will win a medal in Rio,” said Kovalenko.

Meanwhile, some shooters said that Kovalenko, who according to some unconfirmed reports was drawing Rs300,000 per month from Navy, was not a good choice as he could not make substantial improvement in pistol shooters.

“Bashir was already a good shooter, so he did not get much help from Kovalenko’s coaching. There was no substantial improvement in pistol shooters’ performance,” said a shooter.

He added that foreign coaches hired by Navy back in 2005-06 were very helpful and they had transformed Navy’s shooters.

“It would have been better if Army had hired a coach in shotgun events of trap and double trap,” said the shooter.

Kovalenko, born in Ukraine, won prizes in different shooting competitions in Belarus.

As a coach, he worked for a children sports school in Minsk region of Belarus.

An official of National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) said Kovalenko was not a bad choice because foreign coaches demand heavy coaching fees, which is apparently unaffordable for Pakistani shooters or their departments.