India should boycott Commonwealth Games this year to protest against the exclusion of shooting: Manu Bhaker

 

One sport where India have a lot of young talent is shooting with the emergence of  Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudury among many others. Indians definitely have not translated that talent and form at the Olympics but the shooters have proved themselves at multiple World Cups and global events.

But the sad aspect is that they won’t be getting a chance to perform at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham as the organizers have decided to drop a couple of games which includes.

Recently Manu Bhaker with a lot of anger shared that India should boycott the Commonwealth Games in England to prove a point for dropping shooting from the Commonwealth Games this year.

Talking about Commonwealth Games this year, Bhaker told ANI, “Shooting is not included this year. It will probably not be included in the next year’s tournament as well. I think it is wrong to drop the sport. If we want shooting to be included then I think the Indian team should boycott the tournament and this will make a bold statement.”

Despite turning up for India at the Tokyo Olympics last year, Manu Bhaker continues to perform at the Junior World Cup winning five gold medals along with a couple of silver and three bronze medals.She shared how the Junior World Cup is special for her as she will turn senior soon and it has been a happy hunting competition for the young shooter.

“I won five medals, two silver and three gold. The tournament was very special for me, as I’ll be turning senior shortly. And I am very happy,” Bhaker added.

Lastly, when asked about her interaction with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bhaker shared how motivating it is for athletes for have their PM’s back in what they do. She also feels that people have started watching more sports in the last 4-5 years.

“It is motivating for every athlete to meet the Prime Minister of the country. So this is a proud and honoring moment for every player. I think people’s interest is now developing in different sports as well. About 4 or 5 years ago, people did not know that shooting was a sport,’ the 20-year-old concluded.

Shooting has been an integral part of the Commonwealth Games since 1966 in Kingston with only exception of 1970 Edinburgh and history is ready to repeat itself as the Birmingham games will not have the prestigious sport in schedule to disappoint a lot of fans.