China has withdrawn its name from the ISSF World Cup that is scheduled to be held in New Delhi. The shooting World Cup was will kick off on March 15 at the Dr. Karni Singh shooting-range. It has been reported that China has decided to pull out of the competition as it was unlikely that the Ministry of External Affairs and Health Ministry would have granted visas to Chinese players for the tournament due to the threat of the coronavirus spreading in China. Besides China, Pakistan has also decided not to send its shooters to India for the World Cup.
China’s decision came soon after the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Health denied Chinese wrestlers Visa to take part in the Asian Championships in Delhi. On the other hand, Pakistan, whose wrestlers were given the visa for Asian Championship, has reportedly decided to pull out as its shooters were denied visas in the previous edition held in India following political tension between the two nations after the Pulwama attack.
However, the National Rifle Association of Pakistan has said it decided to pull out of the competition to help their shooters to prepare for Tokyo Olympics in Germany.
National Rifle Association of Pakistan’s executive vice president Javaid Lodhi told TOI,
“Three of our shooters have qualified for Tokyo, and we were looking for a coach for them. We have found a coach in Germany, and he will be free only in March to train our shooters. It makes no sense to send our shooters for the World Cup and miss the training in Germany.”
It is also to be noted that India had landed in troubled waters after denying visas to Pakistan shooters last year as the nation was on the verge of losing future global shooting events. But it seems that with Pakistan pulling out of the event themselves, no harm should come to India’s reputation to stage tournaments going ahead.
