Pakistan airspace closure forces Indian archers to miss World Cup

Indian archers were forced to return from the international airport in Delhi on Saturday morning after being told by the airline authorities that all their flights were getting delayed by two hours due to the closure of Pakistan's airspace, according to a report in the Times of India. The likes of Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Abhishek Verma were part of the 23-member contingent which was headed to the Medellin World Cup (Stage I) in Colombia to be held from April 22 to 28. According to several reports, the federation had booked a long-haul flight in the last minute despite picking the team back on March 18. The archers were scheduled to catch a Delhi-Amsterdam-Bogota flight. From Bogota, they would catch a flight to Medellin. However, the two-hour delay meant they would miss their connecting flight from Bogota. Deepika Kumari was quoted as saying by TOI, “The KLM airlines staff told us that all their flights were getting delayed by two hours due to the closure of Pakistan’s and that we wouldn’t be able to catch our connecting flight from Bogota." She further added that when they informed the Archery Association of India (AAI) about the situation, the chief body tried to book tickets for the archers on different carriers but couldn't find seats. The entire fiasco might come back to haunt the archers and the federation as it deprives the recurve archers of a good exposure just before the Olympics. Moreover, it could also affect their participation in the all-important World Championships, to be held in the Netherlands in June, which will serve as an Olympic qualifying event.