Commonwealth Games president Dame Louise Martin calls archery and shooting championships an ‘exciting precedent’

During the opening address for the online general assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation, the organisation’s president said the archery and shooting championships planned for 2022 set an “exciting precedent for the future”.

The Indian city of Chandigarh is set to host the pioneering event. It was proposed following a decision not to include either invitational sport on the programme of the upcoming Games in Birmingham.

“It is an innovative model that can promote and encourage the development and hosting of sport in other countries in the Commonwealth,” continued Dame Louise Martin, adding that the concept aligned to the federation’s priorities set out in its Transformation 2022 strategic plan.

The first Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships are scheduled for January 2022.

Medals won in Chandigarh will be included in a final medal table combined with the results of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will be issued one week after the latter event concludes.

Archery has featured on the programme of two Commonwealth Games to date. The first was in Brisbane, Australia in 1982 and most recently, the sport returned when the Indian capital of Delhi hosted the Games in 2010.

World Archery secretary general Tom Dielen called the championships “a fantastic development for archery and a great opportunity for elite athletes across the Commonwealth” when the event was announced earlier this year.