Archery World Cup | Flight delay forces India to skip tournament
Odisha Sports
The Indian senior recurve and compound teams failed to take part in the Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia due to a flight delay. The 23-member contingent was scheduled to take part in the World Cup starting from tomorrow but "operational issues" resulted in India’s non-participation.
The Indian archers had to take Royal Dutch Airlines KLM 872 from Delhi to Amsterdam yesterday morning but that was delayed by two hours and 53 minutes. This flight delay due to “operational reasons” forced the Indian team into a lot of difficulties for their onward journey Medellin. According to PTI sources, a delay in sanctioning the trip from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) resulted in delay in flight booking.Â
"Pakistan has opened up airspace but all the west-bound flights are still taking longer. They (ministry) could have planned accordingly and made the bookings well in advance," the source told PTI.
With the tournament slated to start from Monday, the Indian team would have reached Medellin at 8pm local time on Sunday after an hour and 25 minutes lay-off at the Amsterdam airport. WhatsApp Customer Care of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines informed that the delay was caused due to "operation issues" and the Indian contingent had no alternate plans and was forced out of the World Cup.
"There was no alternate flights available for such a big contingent. We tried different options but it was not possible to reach before Monday. Now we have to return to our camp in Pune," women's coach Purnima Mahato told PTI.
