Commonwealth Games gold medallist shooter Sanjeev Rajput on Friday expressed disappointment after shooting was not included in the initial sports programme list for CWG 2026 which will be held in Victoria, Australia.
Apart from wrestling, sporting disciplines like archery and shooting have also been dropped from the initial sports programme list.
"With shooting not being a part of CWG 2026 will affect India's medals tally. This you will see in 2022 as well that how much it will affect India's medals tally and we will see that repeating also in 2026. CWG 2006 and CWG 2018 took place in Australia only," Sanjeev Rajput told ANI.
In Commonwealth Games, 2018 India bagged 16 medals in shooting including seven gold, four silver and five bronze while in wrestling India won 12 medals which includes five gold, three silver and four bronze.
"When shooting was part of CWG in Australia twice, there is no point of removing it in 2026. Why it is being removed, I cannot understand," said Rajput.
"In sporting disciplines where India does well or improves, these disciplines are slowly removed so that India does not go up in medals tally," he added.
The disciplines that the Commonwealth Games organising committee has included in the initial list are aquatics, athletics, badminton, boxing, beach volleyball, T20 cricket, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby sevens, squash, table tennis, triathlon and weightlifting. However, the organisers have clarified that they will add a few more disciplines later this year which means India's archery, shooting and wrestling Federations can request them to include them in the Games.
( With inputs from ANI )
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