Inaugural Commonwealth archery, shooting championships in 2022 cancelled due to COVID
The championships were slated to be held in Chandigarh, India.
The inaugural edition of the Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships, to be held in Chandigarh next year has been cancelled, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced on Friday.
“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 said in a media release.
“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.”
The release stated that the current COVID-19 situation in the country played a part, among other factors, in the cancellation of the event.
The decision to hold a separate Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships was taken last year after both archery and shooting were taken off the programme for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK.
Archery had been held in only two Commonwealth Games editions (1982 and 2010) while shooting had been a constant fixture in the programme since 1974.
India has enjoyed considerable success in shooting at the Commonwealth Games - winning 16 medals in the 2018 edition at Gold Coast, Australia - while winning eight Commonwealth Games medals in archery in 2010 in New Delhi.