Birmingham: Shooting was left out of the 2022 Commonwealth Games programme on Thursday, dealing a big blow to India which won as many as 16 medals, including seven gold, at the 2018 edition in Gold Coast. The Executive Board of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) met and approved the inclusion of women's cricket, beach volleyball and para table tennis into the Games programme for the Birmingham edition.

The inclusion of these three sports will now need to be ratified by 51 percent of the CGF members next month. "Our recommendation of adding women's cricket, beach volleyball and Para table tennis is the result of a thorough review and we believe these sports would help us to enhance the existing programme and reach new audiences, while showcasing the sports to our local community, spectators and fans across the world, watching on TV," said Ian Reid, CEO of Birmingham 2022.