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The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has labelled the upcoming World Cup in New Delhi as 'decisive' for Tokyo Olympics 2021. The executive committee made this call to stay compliant with the Qualification System approved three years ago.
Initially, the Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to happen in July-August 2020. Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisers had to push the event to 2021. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has clarified that the Olympics will take place in 2021, irrespective of whether the fans are allowed to attend the event.
Shooting has been a major sporting event at the Olympics. Talking about the Indian shooting contingent, 15 Indian shooters had already sealed their Olympics berth. After the Olympics got postponed, the organisers extended the deadline for qualification to 6th June 2021.
It will be possible to obtain the Olympic MQS at all 2021 ISSF Championships: ISSF
In a statement issued on its official website, the ISSF wrote:
"The 2021 ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in New Delhi will be decisive for Tokyo 2020 Qualification regarding the World Ranking. This decision of the Executive Committee is compliant with the general approach to maintain the original Qualification System approved in 2017 as much as possible."
The International Shooting Sport Federation further added that the shooters could attain the Minimum Qualification Scores (MQS) for the Tokyo Olympics by participating in the 2021 ISSF Championships.
"It will be possible to obtain the Olympic MQS at all 2021 ISSF Championships scheduled to take place before the end of the Qualification period (June 6th, 2021)," ISSF's statement continued.
Egypt (Cairo), Azerbaijan (Baku), South Korea (Changwon) and Italy (Lonato) will host the other World Cups next year.
Since 15 Indian shooters had already reserved their place in the Olympics, it will be interesting to see if someone can make the country proud by replicating the feat achieved by Abhinav Bindra in 2008.
