NEW DELHI: In a blow to India’s medal aspirations in the Commonwealth Games (CWG), the disciplines of shooting, archery and wrestling were on Tuesday axed from the Games programme for the 2026 edition, which is to be held in the State of Victoria in Australia.
The multi-sport event will take place in March 2026 across multiple cities including Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland. The local organising committee has decided to keep 16 sports on the initial list of the Games programme, with further sports to be added later this year. The list includes aquatics (swimming, para swimming and diving), athletics & para athletics, badminton, boxing, beach volleyball, T20 cricket, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls and para lawn bowls, netball, rugby sevens, squash, table tennis & para table tennis, triathlon & para triathlon and weightlifting & powerlifting.
Shooting, archery and wrestling were dropped from the Games programme, as it’s the prerogative of the host nation to choose disciplines among the 22-strong list of core sports. The “2026/30 Strategic Roadmap” approved by the CGF in October 2021 had recommended athletics and aquatics as the only compulsory sports at future CWG to attract new audiences.
The roadmap approved had recommended the inclusion of at least 15 sports for 2026 and onwards. Shooting and archery aren’t part of the upcoming Birmingham CWG as well since they were dropped from the Games programme partly owing to the lack of spectators’ interest and logistical issues. Wrestling was last dropped from the Games programme in 2006 when Melbourne was the host city.
In Gold Coast, the Indian wrestlers shone bright, pocketing a total of 12 medals, including five gold. Indian shooters, too, had returned with a rich haul of 16 medals, including seven gold. In archery, which has featured in only two editions of the CWG (the last one being the 2010 Games), the country had won eight medals at the 2010 edition, including three gold. TOI reached out to sports minister Anurag Singh Thakur and sports secretary Sujata Chaturvedi’s offices for their comments but didn’t get a response. IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta, too, didn’t take the call.
National Rifle Association of India’s secretary general, Kunwar Sultan Singh expressed his dismay over the CGF’s decision and said the decision was devoid of any “logic or reasoning”. “It’s disheartening, shocking and utterly illogical to exclude shooting from the CWG for the second successive edition. It’s unfair on shooters preparing worldwide for such a major multi-sport event. I would request the Indian government and the IOA to take up the matter with the concerned authorities in the CGF to get the sport included in the Games programme for Victoria 2026,” Singh told TOI.
A Wrestling Federation of India official said: “A concerted effort is needed on the part of the government and IOA to get this decision reversed. United World Wrestling must do something to ensure that wrestling gets its deserved spot back in the CWG.”
The multi-sport event will take place in March 2026 across multiple cities including Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland. The local organising committee has decided to keep 16 sports on the initial list of the Games programme, with further sports to be added later this year. The list includes aquatics (swimming, para swimming and diving), athletics & para athletics, badminton, boxing, beach volleyball, T20 cricket, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls and para lawn bowls, netball, rugby sevens, squash, table tennis & para table tennis, triathlon & para triathlon and weightlifting & powerlifting.
Shooting, archery and wrestling were dropped from the Games programme, as it’s the prerogative of the host nation to choose disciplines among the 22-strong list of core sports. The “2026/30 Strategic Roadmap” approved by the CGF in October 2021 had recommended athletics and aquatics as the only compulsory sports at future CWG to attract new audiences.
The roadmap approved had recommended the inclusion of at least 15 sports for 2026 and onwards. Shooting and archery aren’t part of the upcoming Birmingham CWG as well since they were dropped from the Games programme partly owing to the lack of spectators’ interest and logistical issues. Wrestling was last dropped from the Games programme in 2006 when Melbourne was the host city.
In Gold Coast, the Indian wrestlers shone bright, pocketing a total of 12 medals, including five gold. Indian shooters, too, had returned with a rich haul of 16 medals, including seven gold. In archery, which has featured in only two editions of the CWG (the last one being the 2010 Games), the country had won eight medals at the 2010 edition, including three gold. TOI reached out to sports minister Anurag Singh Thakur and sports secretary Sujata Chaturvedi’s offices for their comments but didn’t get a response. IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta, too, didn’t take the call.
National Rifle Association of India’s secretary general, Kunwar Sultan Singh expressed his dismay over the CGF’s decision and said the decision was devoid of any “logic or reasoning”. “It’s disheartening, shocking and utterly illogical to exclude shooting from the CWG for the second successive edition. It’s unfair on shooters preparing worldwide for such a major multi-sport event. I would request the Indian government and the IOA to take up the matter with the concerned authorities in the CGF to get the sport included in the Games programme for Victoria 2026,” Singh told TOI.
A Wrestling Federation of India official said: “A concerted effort is needed on the part of the government and IOA to get this decision reversed. United World Wrestling must do something to ensure that wrestling gets its deserved spot back in the CWG.”
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