NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association on Monday received full support from World Archery on its proposal to host a Commonwealth championships for the sport in March 2022, which, alongside shooting, is not on the roster of disciplines in play at the 2022 Birmingham Games.
IOA chief Narinder Batra had written to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on January 3, proposing to host Commonwealth Championships in shooting and archery, which he had described as “two adjunct complementary events to the 2022 Commonwealth Games”.
World Archery’s secretary general Tom Dielen, in a letter to Batra on Monday accessed by PTI, backed the IOA’s proposal to host a Commonwealth Championships and said it will provide all the necessary help in hosting such a tournament.
“We have well received a copy of your proposal to the CGF and we are pleased that Indian included archery in this proposal. World Archery is giving full support to this proposal to have an archery competition in India as part of Commonwealth Games friendship programme,” Dielen wrote in the letter.
“We will work with the Indian government, IOA and you to finalise the details and the exact programme but would suggest adding the mixed team events which will also feature in Tokyo 2020,” he added.
The International Shooting Sport Federation has also given full support to India for hosting a championships on similar lines.
Incidentally, there is currently no national archery association recognised by the world body and the sport is being run by a transitory committee. But as per the order of the Delhi High Court, elections are to be held on January 18.
“…we are currently facing some issues with the Indian Archery Association but these should be resolved during the coming months and we will work with the newly elected president to make this event (proposed championships) a success,” Dielen wrote.
“In the meantime, we will continue the dialogue with the CGF to include archery in the programme of Commonwealth Games.”
