After the Pakistan hockey team pulled out of the Asia Cup in Bihar, the neighbouring nation will also skip the Junior World Cup in New Delhi
Pakistan shooters will not compete in next month’s ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) Junior World Cup to be held here at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in New Delhi. The deadline for sending entries was August 25.
After Pakistan’s hockey team pulled out of the Asia Cup, a qualifying event for 2026 FIH World Cup in Rajgir, Bihar, players from Pakistan will also skip the shooting competition starting September 24 in New Delhi.
“Till date (August 27) we haven’t got any information regarding entry from Pakistan,” Kanwar Sultan Singh, secretary general of National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) told Sportsbackstory.com over the phone.
Sports Ministry
The Sports Ministry recently came out with a policy to not hold any no bilateral sporting ties with neighbouring Pakistan, but continue to compete against the neighbours in multi-discipline international sporting events.
Relations between the two neighbours further suffered because of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and the resulting Operation Sindoor. India have accused Pakistan of backing terror.
Asia Cup
India said it had no objection to the Pakistan team participating in the Asia Cup hockey. Pakistan hockey team, however, pulled out of the Asia Cup starting August 29 in Rajgir. The continental cup in Bihar is a qualifying event for next year’s FIH World Cup in Europe. Bangladesh has replaced Pakistan at the Asia Cup.
It may be recalled that in the 2019 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, which was one of the Tokyo Olympic Games qualification events, a Pakistan shooter (25m rapid fire) could not travel to India because of visa issues. The World governing body in shooting (ISSF) then withdrew the Olympic quota berth in the event and it was a big setback to promising Indian shooters like Anish Bhanawala.
New policy
The ISSF Junior World Cup being an international event, India followed the Olympic charter to ensure participation of every country. For the second such international tournament in India, Pakistan have refused to travel to India.
Amidst the recent growing tension and calls for boycotting Pakistan in every field, the Indian government has documented a policy — India’s Policy Towards International Sporting Events — keeping in mind the Olympic charter.
Bilateral Sports
It states: “In so far as bilateral sports events are concerned, Indian teams will not be participating in competitions in Pakistan. Nor will we permit Pakistani teams to play in India. With regard to international and multilateral events, in India or abroad, we are guided by the practices of international sports bodies and the interest of our own sportspersons. It is also relevant to take into account India’s emergence as a credible venue to host international sports events.”
“Accordingly, Indian teams and individual players will take part in international events that also have teams or players from Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistani players and teams will be able to participate in such multilateral events hosted by India,” the policy said.
ISSF Junior World Cup
The ISSF Junior World Cup rifle/pistol/shotgun is scheduled to be held from September 24 to October 2 in New Delhi. Apart from the home team more than 15 countries are expected to compete in the age group World Cup.
At the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany held between May 19 to 27, Indian team topped the medal tally with 11 medals, three of them gold. Indian shooters also won four silver and four bronze medals. China was second with four medals, three of them gold and one bronze. Italy was third with eight medals, two gold, two silver and four bronze medals. Overall 17 nations won medals in Suhl. Turkey was at the bottom of the table with one bronze.
ENDS
