Commonwealth Games 2022: Shooting and archery events to be held in India

Sanjeev Rajput won shooting gold for India at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018

India will host the archery and shooting events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, six months before the main event in Birmingham.

The proposal was put forward by India, who threatened to boycott Birmingham 2022 after shooting was excluded.

Both events will take place in Chandigarh in January 2022, with the main Games from 27 July to 7 August.

The move to India was approved by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) executive board.

Chandigarh 2022 and Birmingham 2022 will be separately organised and funded, but medals will count towards the overall competition.

"There is a long tradition of Commonwealth Championships being held across the globe, featuring several different sports, so it's great news that India will be continuing this tradition," said Birmingham 2022 chief executive Ian Reid.

Plan to host the events in India were first revealed by BBC Sport in January.

CGF president Dame Louise Martin said: "Commonwealth archery and shooting athletes now have an unprecedented opportunity to compete in an elite event that will showcase the very best of Commonwealth sport and add value to the Commonwealth sports movement."

Shooting has been included in every Games apart from one since 1966.

But last year Birmingham 2022 announced that the sport - along with archery - had been left out of the programme, as they are both optional sports for host cities.

India has a proud record in shooting. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, the country's shooters accounted for 16 of their 66 medal wins, contributing to a third-place finish in the medal table. They threatened to boycott the event if a compromise could not be found.