Serbian Jelena Arunovic to join as pistol head coach

NEW DELHI: Serbian Jelena Arunovic will be the new head foreign coach of the Indian pistol shooting team, TOI has learnt. The 44-year-old from Belgrade will be joining the Indian coaching setup after the Asian shooting championships, in the Capital Delhi from Feb 2 to 14. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will soon be making a formal announcement on the Serbian’s appointment.Sources in NRAI informed that Jelena will be offered a contract until the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and her salary would be around euros 90,000 annually (euro 7,500 per month, approx Rs 8.2 lakh).“The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has cleared her appointment. A formal signing of contract will take place in 3-4 days. She has agreed to the majority of NRAI’s terms and conditions. Her tenure period and salary part have been discussed. She is looking forward to coming to India and coach our pistol shooters,” a source said.“This is an important year for Indian shooters with the Asian Games and ISSF World Cups and World Championships lined up. Then, of course, you have the Olympic Games coming up in 2028. So, Jelena’s appointment has been made keeping the long-term goals in mind,” the source added.Jelena will replace Mongolia-born Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, who was the pistol team’s head coach at the Paris Olympics in 2024 and left recently for personal reasons. Under her watch, India’s golden girl Manu Bhaker won both her Olympic bronze medals (10m and 25m pistol) in Paris.Jelena’s last coaching assignment was with the Chinese national team, which she joined in Oct 2024. In Paris, she fulfilled her younger sister Zorana’s long-standing wish to win an Olympic medal after three unsuccessful attempts. Jelena coached and helped her clinch the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.Zorana has been a two-time World and European Games champion and a nine-time European Championships winner in 10m air pistol events. Jelena has majorly coached Zorana during her illustrious career, if not working for national teams.Talking about her own journey as a shooter, Jelena never competed in the Olympic Games. She, however, did feature in several World and European championships representing her nation of birth. Following the 2010 World Championships in Munich, she decided to shift her focus from athlete to coach and ran her own shooting club Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade.