Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu pulled up a journalist for misquoting her in the recent Commonwealth shooting row. The journalist in question is Manne Ratnakar of Times of India. Sindhu took to Twitter to express her disappointment over the issue.
According to Sindhu, during the interview, she had said that as players, everyone want to participate in any sports event, but she said that she would always support what Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Government decide.
Sindhu explained that she ‘never urged IOA not to shun CWG’.
But Times of India carried a message on its mast head saying ‘After Bindra and Narang, PV Sindhu now urges Indian Olympic Association not to shun CWG over exclusion of shooting.’
The report inside quoted Sindhu saying, “I am sure government and IOA will take the best decision in the interest of the players. I will support whatever decision they take. But as a player I would like to participate in the CWG. We have done very well in that event.”
Apart from the e-paper version, we weren’t able to find the web version of the story.
Replying to Sindhu’s tweet, shuttler Jwala Gutta replied to Sindhu’s claim, saying this wasn’t the first time the journalist had misquoted someone.
After shooting was excluded from the Commonwealth Games 2020 in Birmingham, the IOA has proposed boycotting the event and has asked for government’s approval for the boycott. In a letter to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, IOA President Narinder Batra requested an early meeting to deliberate on the proposal.
The decision to leave out shooting is being seen as a big blow to India, which had won as many as 16 medals out of 66 in the 2018 Gold Coast CWG. The sport has featured in every Commonwealth Games since 1966 with the exception of Edinburgh 1970.
While Dutee Chand and Heena Sindhu supported IOA’s decision, former shooter Abhinav Bindra, who is India’s lone Olympic gold medallist, was critical of it.
"Boycotts don't win you influence. They just make you irrelevant and punish other athletes. Would be far better if IOA did a campaign to load the CWG committees with their people and allies and push for the inclusion of shooting onto the core list of sports for the future," Bindra had tweeted.
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