After the withdrawal of shooting from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (2022), India’s hostility has raised hopes of hosting the Commonwealth Shooting Championship 2022. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to make a formal proposal for this.
The proposal has been asked to be presented before the CGF Sports Committee in early January which will be sent to its executive committee for approval. There was a meeting between the CGF and the International Shooting Federation (ISSF) in Munich on 5 December.
In a letter to IOA President Narendra Batra, the CGF said it was excited by the proposal of the National Rifle Federation of India (NRAI), led by NRAI President Raninder Singh, and the ISSF, led by Vladimir Lisin, to host the event ahead of the Commonwealth Games to be held in 2022.
The CGF wrote in its letter, “The NRAI will prepare a proposal with the Government of India. The proposal will have to be submitted before the CGF Sports Committee and then the CGF Executive Committee for approval in January. As an official member of the CGF the proposal should be formally introduced by the Indian Olympic Association of India. GGF committee will support in implementing that proposal.”
Raninder Singh has also proposed to add the medals won in the Commonwealth Championships to the Commonwealth Games table. He said that this championship can start on 14 March 2022 i.e. Commonwealth Day.
Raninder has appealed to Batra to help him get approval from the Government of India for organizing the championship. The IOA had protested against the shooting being removed from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
According to sources in the National Rifle Association of India, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh has a strong claim to the Commonwealth Games Championship. The championship can be held at Chandigarh or Mohali and Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal shooting range.
