The Indian archers on Saturday were forced to skip a major event in the 2019 calendar, the World Cup Stage I in Medellin (Colombia), to be held from April 22 to 28, due to a flight issue.
According to sources, a 14-member team was to fly out from Delhi to Medellin, via Amsterdam, in two batches on Saturday and Sunday.
A shock
When the first batch of archers reached the airport, they were informed by the KLM Airlines officials that since the flight was delayed there was no certainty of them catching the connecting flight from Amsterdam.
The Archery Association of India (AAI), which had booked the flight tickets at the last minute (at a high price) despite picking the team at Bhubaneswar by March 18, decided to cancel the whole tour.
The cancellation of the first major tour will deprive the recurve archers of a good exposure in the pre-Olympics year.
Missed opportunity
The development will also affect the compound archers, who will miss out on an important assignment and may not figure in the World Cup Finals.
The AAI officials and team members could not be reached despite several attempts.
