How will India fair without Shooting, Archery at Commonwealth Games?

India bagged 16 medals in the Shooting event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

This year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will not feature Shooting and Archery in their sporting disciplines. The Indian contingent has stood up on the podium for the events multiple times. With the exclusion of both these sporting activities, India will need to work hard on other sports to finish better in the medal tally.

India is the fourth best country in the Commonwealth Games behind Canada, England and Australia. India finished third in the Gold Coast 2018 with 26 gold medals and a total of 66 medals in the tally (20 silver and bronze each). It will be interesting to see how India manages to better off last edition's medal tally as most medals came from the shooting event.

India in Shooting at CWG

Whether it is the Olympics or Commonwealth Games, India’s hope for a medal in Shooting is always high. In the Olympics, they have won four medals so far, while in the Commonwealth Games, the number is quite amazing (135). Shooting is one of India’s major events where they can bag a good number of medals. But unfortunately, it is not a part of this year’s Commonwealth Games. The reason behind the removal of the Shooting is the lack of infrastructure and logistical support.

In the last edition, India bagged 16 medals in Shooting, which helped them grab the third spot behind Australia and England. Overall, India’s medal tally comprised 66 medals in 2018. This time, it is not going to be easy for India to increase the medal tally from the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Shooting is currently an optional sport at the CWG and Birmingham expresses concerns about distance issues. The proposal was to hold the event at Bisley, which is 150 miles away from Birmingham, but that couldn’t happen either.

Manu Bhaker, the youngest Indian to win a gold medal in Shooting at the ISSF World Cup, was not happy with the decision. She said, "I think the Indian team should consider boycotting the Commonwealth Games to make a bold statement. The exclusion of Shooting is not fair. It looks like we are being taken for granted."

Some of India's most memorable moments in Shooting are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Abhinav Bindra's gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Gagan Narang's bronze and Vijay Kumar's silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics, respectively. The record at the Commonwealth Games is outstanding. So, it is going to be a huge loss for the Indian team.

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Archery featured only twice at CWG

Archery is another event that will not happen in the 2022 CWG. Deepika Kumari and Jyothi Vennam were potential medal contenders in this event. With these two events not on the list, the whole focus would be on Wrestling as it is India’s second favourite sport in the Commonwealth Games with 125 medals to its name.

With respect to this decision, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) expressed their disappointment and threatened to boycott the games. However, Indian players are still excited to compete in their respective events and are hoping to make their numbers better this time.

The Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly approved a new strategic roadmap under which Athletics and Swimming will be the only sporting events in the 2026 edition of the CWG.

This is undoubtedly going to be one of the toughest editions for India as two of the major events that usually go in India’s favour are not on the list. Crossing the tally of 66 medals is not easy for India, but there have been efforts from the other games as well that could help India make a bigger name in other events.

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