Top Indian shooters, gunning for medals in the Athens Olympics, will train abroad in the run-up to the mega event in August to avoid media glare, national coach Sunny Thomas said on Tuesday.
"We are trying to finalise an off-shore venue. It would most probably be Kuala Lumpur, which has similar windy conditions as Athens," Thomas said.
He said the shooting range in the Malaysian capital should present the ideal challenge to the Indian shooters, eight of whom have bagged quota places to compete in Athens Games.
"It [the decision to train abroad] has also been taken to shield the shooters from the media glare as it is likely to distract them," he added.
The national coach said the shooters would train abroad for two weeks from the beginning of July after which they would straightaway proceed to Athens.
However, rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra is expected to continue with his training in the United States before arriving in Athens.
Next up for the Athens-bound rifle shooters, now training in Bangalore, is the World Cup in Milan from June 14-21.
Only five shooters -- Abhinav Bindra, Anjali Bhagwat, Deepali Deshpande, Suma Shirur and Gagan Narang will be sent to Milan to fine-tune for the Olympic Games, Thomas said.
