India Pull Out of Shotgun Shooting World Cup 2020 in Cyprus Due to Novel Coronavirus Threat
The outbreak of coronavirus has led to a disruption of sorts in the sporting calendar leading up to the Tokyo Olympics later in the year. Asian Olympic qualifiers for boxing and wrestling that were to be held in China -- the former in Wuhan which is the epicentre of the virus outbreak -- had to be shifted out of the country.
India have pulled out of the ISSF Shotgun Shooting World Cup in Cyprus due to outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus. The Shotgun Shooting World Cup event in Cyprus will be held from March 4, 2020, to March to March 14 before the ISSF shooting World Cup in India later that month. The epidemic has already spread to the island nation along the Mediterranean nation and three more people, who had returned to the country from Italy, were tested negative for the virus and have been admitted to the hospital for further examination. The outbreak has sent most countries on alert with many not only dropping out of the event in Nicosia, Cyprus but also from the ISS Shooting World Cup in India. Coronavirus Outbreak: Six Countries Pull Out of Shooting World Cup in New Delhi Due to COVID-19 Scare.
Earlier, as many as six countries including China pulled out of the event in New Delhi due to the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. "There were some countries which were coming but because of the coronavirus outbreak, their national policies dictate that they can't come," National Rifle Association of India president Raninder Singh was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
"China have taken a wise decision on their own as a nation. They don't want to infect others and hence won't travel. Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, North Korea and Turkmenistan have also backed out because of national policies."
India Pull Out of Shooting World Cup
Apart from these, Pakistan had also pulled out of the World Cup, albeit for a different reason. The denial of visas to Pakistani shooters for last year's tournament had led to the International Olympic Council (IOC) taking away two Olympic quotas from the tournament and demanding a "written guarantees" from the Indian government that it would ensure the entry of all participants into the country or risk losing any chance to host future international events.
Singh, however, said that Pakistan had pulled out of the tournament on their own accord this time as the shooters are adjusting to a new foreign coach. "Don't connect last time to this time. Pakistan were never coming. They have two athletes who have qualified for pistol events for the Olympics. My colleague Mr Javed Lodhi (Pakistan shooting federation's executive vice president) has informed me that ‘our coach in Germany is only available during that time and our shooters would much rather train with him for the Olympic events than participate in the World Cup'," he said.
The outbreak of coronavirus has led to a disruption of sorts in the sporting calendar leading up to the Tokyo Olympics later in the year. Asian Olympic qualifiers for boxing and wrestling that were to be held in China -- the former in Wuhan which is the epicentre of the virus outbreak -- had to be shifted out of the country. Chinese and North Korean wrestlers were unable to participate in the Asian Wrestling Championships earlier this month as well. (With Help From IANS).
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2020 04:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).