Gagan Narang disappointed over some disciplines with high medal hopes for India not part of Commonwealth Games 2026

New Delhi [India], October 22 : Former Indian shooter and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) vice-president Gagan Narang has expressed his disappointment at shooting and some other disciplines, where India has high medal hopes, not being part of the Commonwealth Games 2026 itinerary and said it amounts to "watering down" the competition as only a few sports disciplines have been included.
In what would be a blow to India's medal chances, cricket, field hockey, badminton and wrestling are among disciplines that have been dropped from the programme for Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which will be held from July 23 to August 2, 2026.
The sporting event will return to the Scottish city after 12 years.
The CWG 2026 will be featuring only 10 sports across four venues placed within an eight-mile corridor, organisers Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced on Tuesday, as per Olympics.com.
The 10-sport itinerary for Glasgow 2026 includes athletics (track and field), swimming, 3x3 basketball, track cycling, weightlifting, lawn bowls, artistic gymnastics, netball, boxing and judo. The para variants of the first five will be part of the integrated para programme at the 2026 CWG.
The list of sports for 2026 CWG is way more thinner than the 2022 edition in Birmingham, which had 20 sports. The sports excluded include hockey, cricket, badminton, wrestling, table tennis, diving, rugby sevens, beach volleyball, mountain biking, squash and rhythmic gymnastics.
Shooting, which was not in the Birmingham 2022 CWG programme, has not staged a comeback.
Taking to X, while Narang talked about the exclusion of shooting from the calendar since 2022 and the disappointment shooters must be going through.
He also talked about other sports which were "medal prospects" for India, being dropped from the schedule.
He pointed out that the international and national sporting federations worldwide are working hard to administer the excluded sports in various countries and the athletes were also preparing well for the event.
"I am certainly disappointed shooting is not part of CWG 2026 in Glasgow.... I can imagine the disappointment for shooters who were preparing for this event," he said.
"I am also disappointed that few more disciplines which are medal prospects for India don't figure in the list of disciplines for CWG 2026. While I am happy for the ten sports included, the respective international and national federations whose sports missed the cut of list have also been working tirelessly to administer the sport in their respective countries and the athletes have been giving their absolute best to prepare for these prestigious games. CWG has always been a marquee event in Indian sporting calendar and it is disheartening to see the Games being watered down with fewer disciplines in the coming up in Glasgow 2026," he added.
https://x.com/gaGunNarang/status/1848650136332996888?t=c7w5zqwjS2nk7ir5MPX4ug&s=08
Four venues will be hosting the games, including Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Emirates Arena - including the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and the Scottish Event Campus (SEC)
Shooting, which was earlier removed from the Birmingham 2022 CWG programme, is still not reinstated in the schedule.
Shooting and wrestling have been dominant sports for India at CWG since its inception, having won 135 and 114 medals, including 63 and 49 gold medals respectively. In the last edition at Birmingham, India won 12 medals in wrestling, including six gold, a silver and five bronze medals. The last time shooting was played at CWG in 2018, India secured 12 medals, including seven golds, four silver and five bronze medals.
Field hockey's exclusion means the sport will be missing from the event for the first time since its CWG's debut in 1998. With a total of six medals shared between men's and women's team, including a gold, four silver and a bronze, India are the second-most successful field-hockey side in CWG behind Australia.
India also has a stellar record in badminton, table tennis and squash at the CWG, having won 31 medals (including 10 gold), 28 medals (including 10 gold) and five medals (including a gold) in these games across all editions of the competitions in which they were played.