In a move that could severely dent India’s medal prospects at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the organisers have decided to scrap shooting from the list of sports for the event. On Thursday, the CWG president Louise Martin revealed that cricket could make its way back to the event through a mixed-gender Twenty20 format, reported Indian Express.
After Birmingham was announced as the host city for the 2022 Games, the hosts have reportedly listed judo, table tennis, wrestling, gymnastics, diving, cycling and 3v3 basketball, apart from the 10 mandatory sports as a apart of its programme.
The report also states that distance between the venue and the city played a big hand in shooting getting the boot.
The nearest Olympic-standard shooting range to Birmingham is in Surrey, which is about 250 kilometres away, “It’s a decision that the Birminghan bid as a whole has made rather than just Commonwealth Games England. The Birmingham bid made an assessment of all the optional sports and they picked the sport which were enabled to take place close to Birmingham,” Peter Hannon, spokesperson of Commonwealth Games England was quoted as saying by the paper.
“We’d like as many people to be a part of the Games but obviously, you are limited on the number of athletes and sport, so that forced some difficult choices,” he added.
Since the 1974 Games in Christchurch, shooting has been part of every edition. India have won 56 gold, 40 silver and 22 bronze medals and lie second in the all-time charts, behind Australia.
The Birmingham programme is expected to be finalised by the end of next year and shooting is set to miss out despite considerable push from the International Shooting Sport Federation, National Rifle Association of India, and sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore.
NRAI chief Raninder Singh hoped that the organisers would reverse the decision: “Shooting is an important Olympic discipline and the one where India has done very well,” said Singh, who is part of the ISSF executive committee.
“We have written to the Indian Olympic Association and the Sports Ministry and made them aware of the situation. The international federation, too, is trying to convince them. Hopefully, they will have a rethink and include shooting,” he added.
‘CWG would love to partner with ICC’
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevemberg confirmed that the body was looking at ways to reinstate cricket – which last featured in 1998 – as a part of its itinerary in 2022.
“Cricket is an iconic Commonwealth sport, and the Commonwealth Games Federation would love to partner with the International Cricket Council to incorporate it into the medal events programme of a future Games,” Grevemberg told the Indian Express.
“The CGF looks forward to suggesting innovative proposals for how best to include the sport of cricket for the benefit of all communities across the Commonwealth of Nations.”
The report also went on to state that the the mixed-gender cricket event has not officially been given the go-ahead for the Games but Birmingham officials are trying to hold talks with England and Wales Cricket Board to explore the possibility of having in place T20 cricket for men and women or a mixed gender event.
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