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Go to any national stadium in India these days and chances are, you will see a Commonwealth Games (CWG) themed selfie booth. Visitors can cheer for the Indian contingent by getting themselves clicked with a sign that reads:
"I #cheer4India…Commonwealth Games. Birmingham 2022."
The selfie-booth installed at Karni Singh's shooting range is a harsh reminder for some people. It majorly serves as a neon sign for the Indian shooters who aren't a part of CWG this year.
Sift Kaur, this year's ISSF Junior World Cup gold medallist in the 50m rifle three position (3P), said:
"When I come to train and see this selfie-booth, I, of course, support the Indian contingent competing at CWG, but at the same time, it does pinch me a bit that I am not there performing because my sport has been excluded. I believe I could have qualified for CWG."
Kaur has won five medals in total, including two gold (individual 3P, individual prone), two silver (Mixed team 3P, Mixed team prone) and a bronze (team 3P).
These days, shooters are training in a national squad camp organized in New Delhi to prepare for trials to begin on August 17 in Delhi and Bhopal. The trials will ensure selection for the upcoming World Championship.
The news that the Commonwealth Games Federation has decided to exclude shooting from the event’s 17th edition in 2022 came as a blow for all shooters.
A shooter, who chose to remain anonymous, said she was disappointed and added:
"I don’t switch to any sports channel broadcasting CWG, just to avoid feeling bad about myself."
Shooting has been a part of every Commonwealth Games schedule for over 50 years except the 1986 Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Why shooting is crucial for India at CWG
India has so far won 135 (63 gold, 44 silver, and 28 bronze) medals in shooting, out of their total tally of 503 CWG medals. But that's not all as India's leading medallist at the Commonwealth Games belongs to this discipline of sport. Additionally, Jaspal Rana's record of 15 individual medals at CWG is yet to be matched by any individual Indian athlete.
In an attempt to protest against this exclusion, the Indian Olympic Association pulled out of the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly (CGF) held in 2019 in Rwanda. It also threatened to boycott the event, but a visit by CGF president Louise Martin and CEO David Grevemberg in November led to the withdrawal of the warning instead.
While withdrawing, the IOA proposed that the Commonwealth Championships in shooting as well as archery (not a part of the CWG roster since 2010) be held in Chandigarh. This would be done on the condition that the medals awarded be included in the final tally of the participating countries for 2022 CWG.
However, it couldn’t be materialized as CGF didn’t agree to recognize the medal tally and then COVID-19 restrictions further nullified the negotiations.
CWG 2026 will not include shooting as a sporting discipline either
The CWG 2026 edition will see the exclusion of shooting, wrestling, and archery from its list of events. The fresh reports indicate assurances from the Commonwealth Games Federation that it is still open to further additions of events and shooting could definitely be on the list.
For 2022, when shooting was excluded, CGF included four new sports: women’s T20 cricket, basketball 3x3, wheelchair basketball 3x3 and para table tennis.
Former director of venue development and operations at CWG 2010, Namashish, argued:
"A sport like shooting, which is played by almost 30-40 participating nations in CWG, is excluded, while women's cricket, which is played by hardly 7-8 countries, is included. What logic is this? It is also not like that, that it is not played by England. "
He further added that the Commonwealth Games federation should also concentrate on including Asia-bound games as well. He questioned why the federation chooses most of the European games that aren't always played in many commonwealth countries.
Logistical issues might have led to the exclusion of shooting
The exclusion of shooting from CWG 2022 is based on "logistical issues" which is mostly attributed to no proper venue for shooting. However, this has been counter-argued by Jaspal Rana, the lead medallist from India at CWG.
He said:
"When Asian Games happened in Jakarta in 2018, they had an issue regarding shooting range but they resolved it by organising the event in Palembang, which was quite far from the original main sports venue. I believe it is more about intention than unavailability of the proper venue or something."
Shooting is an optional sport in CWG
As per CWG constitutional document, there are 19 compulsory sports disciplines- Aquatics (Swimming), Aquatics (Swimming Para), Athletics, Athletics (Para), Badminton, Cycling (Road), Boxing, Gymnastics (Artistic), Hockey (Men and Women), Judo, Lawn Bowls, Lawn Bowls (Para), Netball (Women), Rugby Sevens (Men & Women), Squash, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting, Powerlifting (Para), and Wrestling (Freestyle).
Host countries can have a minimum or maximum of sports from this list. However, shooting, archery fall into the optional list of sports disciplines. This is followed by the addition of another list of sports which can be added to the sporting event based on culture and ethnicity of the hosting country.
Thus, it can be excluded or included based on the hosting country and CGF recommendations. The federation caps the final list of sporting events at 15.
Arjun Babuta got to know about the decision when he was at the shooting range
He was in his regular training routine, sharpening his shooting skills at range when the news broke in the media. Babuta stopped the practice and went straight out of range. He took a lengthy break to come to terms with what he had just heard.
Arjun Babuta is a promising young shooter who recently won a gold medal at the ISSF Senior World Cup.
Speaking about the announcement, he said:
"I won’t lie, obviously I got upset and took a break from practice. Then I went back home, where my parents consoled me and told me to focus on what I have, that is, World Championships, Olympics and Asiad. We prepare ourselves for the World Cups and Championships, but the public focus is majorly on these events - CWG, Asiad and Olympics. Now we have two such events with us."
CWG 2010 official feels shooting has been removed to stop India from excelling at the event
Eminent names from the Indian shooting range, including Jaspal Rana, are of the opinion that shooting is excluded to hamper India's medal tally ranking at CWG.
Former Director of Venue Development and Operations at CWG 2010, Namashish said:
"In the 2018 Commonwealth Games, we finished third in the medal tally with 66 total medal wins, of which 16 medals were contributed by shooting itself. In 2010, we had a record medal win of 101 with 30 medals contributed by shooting and we came second in that edition."
He added:
It was our highest ranking in CWG so far. This exclusion indicates that they don’t want us to excel ahead of them!"
Here's India's medal tally and overall ranking at the Commonwealth Games since 2002:
However, a SAI coach who does not want to be named has a different opinion. According to him, the exclusion will impact not just India but even other countries as well that are good at shooting.
Such decisions I don’t think is taken with an intention to target just one country. The exclusion is strange though as England has good fan following in shooting."
England have so far won 2574 CWG medals, of which 176 medals have come in shooting.
Manu Bhaker, who won gold at 2018 CWG, is disappointed by the decision. Her father also echoed her thoughts, expressing that Bhaker could have won big for India had the sport been allowed at the 2022 CWG.
Will it impact the participation in shooting in the future?
Abhinav Bindra's gold at the 2008 Olympics in 10m air rifle competition became a media sensation. However, the bigger impact in the Indian scenario (with regards to shooting as a sport) came after the success at the 2010 CWG.
A current SAI coach echoed this thought, adding that CWG is important for the development of shooting as a sport in the country.
He said:
"Earlier around 1000 shooters used to compete in nationals and after 2010, it had increased ten-fold. Today, we receive around 12000 participations."
However, since shooting is still a part of the Olympics and Asian Games, participation will not be reduced completely.
Amid all this, Jaspal Rana concluded by saying that a strong representation of India on the International Olympic Committee and Commonwealth committee is crucial for the country to make their demands heard.
As of now, the Indian Olympic body and Sports Ministry are trying to lobby for the inclusion of shooting (and wrestling) in CWG 2026. Only time will tell whether the fired bullet will hit the target for the sake of the future of young shooters in the country.
