2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships in India cancelled due to Covid-19

The Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships, which were scheduled to be held in Chandigarh before the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, have been cancelled due to the “uncertainty” posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) said on Friday that the decision was taken by the Commonwealth Games India (CGI) Executive Board “with the support of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF)”.

“We are disappointed that the 2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships will no longer take place however, this is the right decision to take in the current climate,” CGF President Dame Louise Martin DBE.

“Despite this news, there are numerous key learnings that will benefit our ongoing work as we look to innovate and create new Commonwealth Sport Properties.

“The Chandigarh 2022 concept has identified exciting opportunities regarding future co-hosting possibilities that we must further explore,” she further said.

2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships Update:

After careful consideration of several factors, including the continued uncertainty created by the ongoing global pandemic, the Championships scheduled to take place in India has been cancelled.

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— Commonwealth Sport (@thecgf) July 2, 2021

The championships were part of a compromise reached between the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the CGF when the the former threatened to pull out of Birmingham 2022 after shooting was dropped from the Games roster. Shooting has traditionally been India’s strongest sport.

Following a visit by Martin and then CEO David Grevemberg, the IOA withdrew its warning during the Annual General Body Meeting in December 2019.

The event was to be held in Chandigarh six months before the Games in January next year and the medals to be added later to the main event’s tally.

However, the IOA, till last month, had not ratified the hosting of the championships, citing the lack of an in-person meeting amid the pandemic, while admitting that the health crisis would make it “really difficult” to conduct these events.

While the cost for the shooting championship was to be met largely by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the archery event was supposed to be funded solely by the Indian government.