Following a review of the 2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships scheduled to take place in India, the difficult decision has been made to cancel the event. This comes after careful consideration of several factors, including the continued uncertainty created by the ongoing global pandemic.
The decision was taken by Commonwealth Games India (CGI) Executive Board with the support of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).
CGF President Dame Louise Martin DBE said:
“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.
“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.
“We very much are looking forward to welcoming Team India to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.”
In a joint statement Jon Doig OBE, Chief Executive at Commonwealth Games Scotland, Oliver Barsby, Chief Operating Officer at Scottish Target Shooting and Vincent Bryson, Chief Executive at Scottish Archery said:
“Whilst we are disappointed for the athletes and the organising committee, who have worked hard towards this event, we recognise that this is the right decision to protect the health and the wellbeing of all involved. We look forward to seeing similar events held in future, once it is safe to do so.”
At STS we appreciate this will be hugely disappointing news for athletes training hard for selection to the Scottish team, but we feel that for athlete safety amidst so much uncertainty, it is the right decision. We will work with our colleagues in shooting bodies in the Commonwealth to see what other opportunities we might be able to create and support over the coming 18 months to ensure Commonwealth shooting can still provide competitive opportunities for athletes.