Top British shooters miss World Cup due to visa issues
The star-studded Great Britain team led by reigning Olympics trap champion Nathan Hales will miss the ISSF World Cup Final that gets underway at the Karni Singh Shooting Range on Tuesday.
Hales, Mathew John Coward-Holley, who is a Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winner in trap, and Ben Llewellin, who is a 2022 World Championships gold medallist in skeet mixed team, are cooling their heels back home after they failed to get their visas in time.
Peter Wilson, the 2012 Olympics gold medallist and Hales’ personal coach, said the three-member team could not travel due to late submission of paperwork.
“It is correct that they are not here. I have been told that they were late in applying for a business visa in time. I say this with a caveat because except for the Great Britain team every team is here,” Wilson told The Tribune on Monday.
“It is a shame that they are not here but I am really not sure where the blame lies as I saw shooters from all countries at the range today,” the London Olympics double trap champion added.
Wilson further said that the three shooters were told to file the papers again and they could have still made it in time for the competition but that would mean they would have to travel straight from the airport to the ranges.
“They could have filed the papers again and there was a chance for them to land early tomorrow morning but that could have been silly coming straight to the range from the airport,” he said.
When pressed further, Wilson said that the GBR team should have been more careful. “Not sure that the NRAI (Indian federation) is to blame as every other team is here. Possibly, the mistake was made by the GBR team as it (such a scenario) has never happened ever,” he added.
