Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships cancelled

There will be disappointment for Commonwealth archery and shooting athletes as the Commonwealth Games Federation announced the cancellation of events.
In a communique issued via their official website the CGF announced that “following a review of the 2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships scheduled to take place in India, the difficult decision has been made to cancel the event. This comes after careful consideration of several factors, including the continued uncertainty created by the ongoing global pandemic.”

“The decision was taken by Commonwealth Games India (CGI) Executive Board with the support of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).”

CGF President Dame Louise Martin DBE said: “We are disappointed that the 2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships will no longer take place however, this is the right decision to take in the current climate.

Despite this news, there are numerous key learnings that will benefit our ongoing work as we look to innovate and create new Commonwealth Sport Properties. The Chandigarh 2022 concept has identified exciting opportunities regarding future co-hosting possibilities that we must further explore.

We very much are looking forward to welcoming Team India to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.”

Gibraltar’s shooters will be doubly disappointed with the news having also missed out on an Island Games participation this year with the Island games now moved to 2023, this leaving shooters without two major key international events for the next few years.

Also this week the CGF has said it is to conduct a review of Commonwealth Youth Games

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) have confirmed that they will conduct a full review of the Commonwealth Youth Games and make recommendations to the unique proposition, purpose and value of the event.

Following the first Youth Games in Edinburgh in 2000, there have been six editions of the competition with the most recent event taking place in The Bahamas in 2017.

The 2021 Youth Games were awarded to Trinidad and Tobago in June 2019, but following the impact of the pandemic causing a number of major sporting events to be rescheduled, including the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the event was postponed.

The review will be led by the CGF Head of Commonwealth Youth Games Rachel Simon with the support of additional expertise. Working with Trinidad and Tobago, as well as several Commonwealth countries with Youth Games hosting knowledge and experience, the review will begin immediately with findings and recommendations to be published in early 2022.

CGF President Dame Louise Martin said: “With the pandemic still ongoing, the CGF believe now is a good time for a full review of the Youth Games. This will ensure the event can be economically and socially viable, attractive to future hosts, and seen as significantly beneficial to all stakeholders including our Membership, sport and youth of the Commonwealth.

The Youth Games have been a springboard for so many young athletes to move on to elite competition. We are proud to have seen household names like Jessica Ennis-Hill, Caster Semenya and Josh Taylor start their incredible careers at this competition.

The Youth Games have a proud history and like all sporting events, we must continue to modernise and evolve our product to ensure it remains exciting and relevant. This review comes at an important time and we look forward to exploring the recommendations that will come early next year.”