CommonWealth Games India 2010

CWG scam: Kalmadi hand in dubious deals found

2011-03-09T21:15:00.001-08:00

NEW DELHI: Forensic evidence linking Suresh Kalmadi, sacked chief of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, to contracts being investigated for alleged corruption, delivery deficits and manipulation of tender terms has come to light.

Details of Kalmadi's links to dubious decisions taken during his tenure as chief organiser are with the V K Shunglu committee probing an array of Games-related irregularities. The evidence was turned up by private experts engaged by the committee who examined computer and email records at the OC office.

Sources said the experts did not find it easy to scour through the electronic records, many of which were obliterated and others fudged or tampered with. But despite being able to look at the record weeks after the Games concluded, they have hit on Kalmadi's footprint.

The evidence gathered is believed to be substantial, although not many details are available. The linkages are believed to be strong enough to bolster the case against the former OC boss and his associates, some of who are already in jail.

The electronic record will be useful as conclusive evidence is not easy to come. The OC's filing and record keeping systems are poor and vulnerable to tampering. Several papers are missing and sources said the file work does not have the careful cross referencing that makes it difficult to take out a noting from a government file.

toi

CWG projects under probe are worth Rs 28,000 crore: Panel

2011-02-01T01:59:00.001-08:00

New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Commonwealth Games works under investigation are worth Rs 28,000 crore and time is required to probe them, the high-level Shunglu committee today said.

"The total project costs worth Rs 28,000 crore. How do you expect me to complete the probe within three months," V K Shunglu told PTI.

However, he declined to share details of the interim report submitted to the PMO yesterday on alleged irregularities in awarding broadcasting rights during Games.

The term of the panel has been extended till March 31 to submit its full report.

The Committee was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 25 last year and asked to submit its findings on financial and managerial lapses within three months.

The committee has collected CWG projects related documents from different central and state government departments.

Former Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training, Shantanu Consul, is also a member of the panel.

Several projects undertaken by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Public Works Department (PWD), Central Public Works Department (CPWD), RITES, Sports Ministry, Urban Development Ministry and Games Organising Committee are under the scanner of enforcement, investigating and vigilance agencies for alleged bunglings.

Besides, the CBI has registered four FIRs naming some of the close aides of OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi for alleged criminal conspiracy and financial irregularities in executing the contracts.

The CBI has also questioned Kalmadi and OC Secretary general Lalit Bhanot among others in connection with the cases.

CBI raids more Kalmadi aides, registers fourth FIR in CWG scam

2011-01-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: A day after questioning Suresh Kalmadi, the CBI on Thursday lodged a fourth FIR in the CWG scam. The FIR has been registered in connection with irregularities in overlay contracts for the Games.

Meanwhile, the CBI is conducting more raids in connection with the CWG scam. According to reports, raids are underway at ten places on companies related to the overlay contracts.

The fresh FIR and the raids come a day after CBI sleuths grilled Suresh Kalmadi for nearly nine hours.

Kalmadi, who is the chairman of the CWG organising committee has all along denied any wrongdoing. But the CBI interrogators were not satisfied with his answers on Wednesday and have hinted that he will be called again for furher clarifications.

The CBI has earlier lodged three cases in connection with the CWG scam. While two cases have been registered in connection with alleged irregularities in the Queen's baton relay, the third FIR is in connection with the awarding of contract for time and scoring.

Read more: CBI raids more Kalmadi aides, registers fourth FIR in CWG scam - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CBI-raids-more-Kalmadi-aides-registers-fourth-FIR-in-CWG-scam/articleshow/7227349.cms#ixzz1AENISZUz

CBI questions Kalmadi in connection with CWG scam

2011-01-05T02:08:00.001-08:00

STAFF WRITER 11:7 HRS IST

New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) Commonwealth Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalamdi was today questioned by the CBI in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the conduct of the sports event.

Kalmadi reached the CBI office at about 10 AM. His questioning began about half an hour later, official sources said.

The questioning is about alleged irregularities in the Queen Baton's Relay held in London last year besides certain contracts awarded to various firms totalling several hundred crores, the sources said.

The agency had raided his Pune and Delhi premises on December 24 during which several documents including digital were seized, they said.

The sleuths have grilled Kalmadi's three key aides in connection with the scam. The sources said Manoj Bhori, political advisor to OC head and P K Srivastava and A K Sinha, both assistants to Kalmadi, were also called for interrogation.

WG probe: I-T conducts nationwide raids at over 50 locations

2010-10-28T06:26:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Over 300 personnel of Income Tax Department today swooped down on over 50 premises of companies across the country to probe alleged financial irregularities in Commonwealth Games contracts.

Official sources said the simultaneous raids in various cities, which began early morning, are centred on four main contractors roped in by the CWG Organising Committee for landscaping and beautification works of the venues among others.

The sources said over 50 premises spread across Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Jamshedpur, Kolkata and National Capital Region (NCR) were the focus of the raiding teams and a large number of documents including those pertaining to contracts and sub-contracts awarded in connection with the Games have been seized.

They said the contractors, who are under the scanner of the I-T Department, were involved in landscaping, beautification of venues, changing of street lamps, laying field tracks and also in the business of sports equipment and gear.

The sources said the tax return details of previous years filed by these firms were also being examined by the department.

The action comes at a time when various other government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, Central Vigilance Commission and also the Prime Minister- appointed Special Committee are looking into various aspects of the alleged financial irregularities.

The sources said the I-T probe will specifically look into the contracts awarded by the Games Organising Committee (OC) and the role of its officials and contractors besides charges of bribing.

The I-T department officials have seized documents to detect possible evasion of taxes through over-invoicing and fudging of accounts.

The department had on October 19 carried out similar searches on four major consortia, including those related to BJP member Sudhanshu Mittal, which had bagged contracts worth Rs 700 crore. Mittal is considered to be a close associate of former BJP President Rajnath Singh and late party leader Pramod Mahajan.

Read more: CWG probe: I-T conducts nationwide raids at over 50 locations - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/CWG-probe-I-T-conducts-nationwide-raids-at-over-50-locations/articleshow/6827787.cms#ixzz13eyQvq1Q

Oz mission pays damage for Village vandalism

2010-10-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The Australian mission at Commonwealth Games has paid Rs 10,000 as damages for the vandalism of some members of its squad who threw down a washing machine from the seventh floor of a Games Village apartment.

The alcohol-fuelled vandalism, first reported by TOI, could have taken a fatal turn if the machine had struck someone and led to condemnation of the behaviour of Aussie athletes concerned though no formal complaint was lodged. The amount paid covers the cost of the washing machine. No fine was imposed.

Australian squad were involved in at least two other incidents of overly boisterous behaviour in the dining area and on one occasion were led away by their managers.

The incidents were brushed aside as CWG organisers decided not to lodge a complaint while Aussie officials denied the incident (of the washing machine being thrown) had anything to do with the Test side losing to India in cricket.

Read more: Oz mission pays damage for Village vandalism - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/athletics/Oz-mission-pays-damages-for-Commonwealth-Games-Village-vandalism/articleshow/6818283.cms#ixzz13WtlFouJ

Haryana to honour all CWG participants

2010-10-21T21:01:00.001-07:00

STAFF WRITER 19:26 HRS IST

Chandigarh, Oct 21 (PTI) Haryana Government today decided to boost the morale of the state atheltes who didn't finish in the medal bracket of the Commonwealth Games by announcing a cash prize of Rs two lakhs for all the participants.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the participants who failed to get any medal will be given Rs two lakh each, a official release said.

The state has already announced cash awards of Rs 15 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs five lakh to each winner of Gold, Silver and bronze medals respectively.

As many as 54 sportspersons of Haryana had taken part in the Commonwealth Games and the players of the State bagged 32 medals including 17 Gold medals, seven Silver medals and eight Bronze medals.

CBI verifying 20 complaints of CWG corruption

2010-10-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has stepped in the Commonwealth Games graft probe, and is verifying 20 complaints of corruption.

They have taken over files regarding the Indian leg of the Queen's Baton Relay.

The CBI is also working in close coordination with Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/cbi-verifying-20-complaints-of-cwg-corruption-60942?cp

30 CWG medalists from Haryana to get Maruti cars

2010-10-16T05:54:00.000-07:00

STAFF WRITER 17:48 HRS IST

Chandigarh, Oct 16 (PTI) Thirty medalists of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) from Haryana and two others - Saina Nehwal and Sushil Kumar - having connection with the state would get Maruti cars.

The 15 gold medalist from Haryana and Saina Nehwal and Sushil Kumar would also be given Maruti SX4 luxury cars of Maruti located in Gurgaon, an official spokesman said here today.

Seven silver medalist players would be given Maruti Dzire and eight bronze medalists from the State of Haryana would be given Wagon R cars.

The keys of the cars would be handed over to the players by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a state level function being organized on Haryana Day, November 1 at Sonepat.

Keeping in view Maruti Udyog's long association with Haryana, the Chief Minister took up the matter with MUL Management which agreed to his proposal.

Sushil Kumar ruled out of Asian Games

2010-10-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Indian wrestling's team management is not willing to take any chances and has decided to rest world champion Sushil Kumar for the Asian Games to give him time to recover from his shoulder and neck injuries.

Sushil confirmed he had fought with some discomfort during the World Championship last month and the Commonwealth Games here.

"The injury has been troubling me for the last six months," said Sushil, who has been rested for the November 12-27 event. "The Wrestling Federation (WFI) and my coaches asked me to take rest because if the injury flares up it will affect my preparation for the London Olympics in 2012," added Sushil, who had his injured right shoulder taped during the gold-medal winning performance at the CWG.

Pardeep Kumar, who is the India No. 2 in 66kg category, will replace Sushil in Guangzhou.

National coach Jagmender Singh told TOI that the injury will heal in 15 to 20 days. However, it has been learnt that Sushil had also complained about his fingers getting numb during training, which could be an indication that the neck pain may be because of an injury to the spine (wear and tear of the intervertebral disc). Such an injury could be career-threatening.

Indian team physio Arvinder Pal Singh insisted Sushil's injury is muscular and has nothing to with the spine. "It is due to over-exertion. We had done tests including MRI scans and Sushil has a muscular strain on the neck and shoulders," he said.

"Sushil took part in three back-to-back tournaments - the Asian championships, World championships and CWG. It is bound to take a toll," said Arvinder. "He had slight pain in the right shoulder during the build-up to the World Championship and after Moscow we treated him and prepared him for the CWG as it was important for him to compete at home.

"But we don't want to take chances any more. Sushil had pain during the bouts at the CWG and he also complained about knee pain. So we decided to give him rest and let him recover fully from the small niggles and prevent it from becoming big," the physio added. "We don't want to repeat the mistake we did with Yogeshwar (Dutt)." Yogeshwar suffered a career-threatening knee injury one and a half years back which got aggravated after he trained and competed with it.

TOI

Commonwealth Games a hit, now punish graft: TOI poll

2010-10-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Commonwealth Games were a resounding success for India, but the allegations of corruption that preceded the event must be thoroughly investigated. That's the message coming out loud and clear from metropolitan India.

An opinion poll in India's four biggest metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai – exclusively for TOI has found 85% of those surveyed felt the Games were a hit. The same proportion said they have enhanced India's reputation globally.

This is a sea change from a poll we had conducted in September, where close to 50% had said India's reputation had taken a beating due to the stories of sleaze emerging almost daily.

That the change is thanks mainly to the athletes, and not the organizers, is clear from the fact that 86% of respondents to the latest poll say that allegations of corruption must be investigated. In other words, the bungling has neither been forgotten nor forgiven.

88% feel India has arrived as a sporting nation

The rich medal haul and India's finishing second to Australia in the tally of gold medals has clearly captured the imagination of many. As a result, 88% expressed the view that India had arrived as a sporting nation — an estimate that sport buffs might not yet share.

The success of the Games also seems to have whetted the appetite for more such mega sporting events. When asked whether India should now put in a bid for the Olympic Games in 2020, 82% said it should.

A final question was put exclusively to respondents in Delhi and pertained to what they considered the biggest failure of the organizers. The most common response — voiced by 33% of those polled — was poor infrastructure.

The authorities might point to the kudos received from several foreign delegations on this count, but negative perception at home appears to have been driven by events like the collapse of the foot overbridge near the main venue and the state of the Village when it was first handed over to some of the delegations.

The second most common response, from 30% of the respondents, was traffic chaos due to excessive security. Lack of tickets, poor facilities and a poorly run website also figured on the list of complaints, but lower on the scale. The survey was conducted by Synovate, a global market research agency, polled a total of 375 adults between the ages of 18 and 40 years, 150 of them in the host city, Delhi.

Read more: Commonwealth Games a hit, now punish graft: TOI poll - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Commonwealth-Games-a-hit-now-punish-graft-TOI-poll/articleshow/6756382.cms#ixzz12UWKLz6r

Saina powers India to No. 2 spot, helps exceed target of 100 CWG medals

2010-10-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: On October 3, TOI ran a front-page headline - ' India Takes Aim: 100 Medals and Finish At No. 2'. By the time Saina Nehwal took the court for the women's singles final, the first target had already been achieved but the second - No. 2 spot in the overall tally - was still very much up for grabs.

England and India were tied at 37 golds each, but England had many more medals, so it was a must-win match for Saina - and for a nation desperate for some cheer after a demoralizing 0-8 drubbing in the men's hockey final.

Going by track record, it should have been a no-contest. Saina, world no. 3, had an unbeaten 4-0 record against her opponent, Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo. But Wong, world No. 17, had run Saina close in the team final just a few days ago. Could she do an encore?

She almost went one better in a 74-minute thriller that Saina would later describe as the toughest match of her career. Eventually, Saina won a nerve-wracking battle 19-21, 23-21, 21-13 after facing a match point at 20-21 in the second game. Never before has the country been united by a badminton match. Nor has India come so close to finding such a loved sporting icon after Sachin Tendulkar.

Saina's triumph ensured the Games would end on a high note for India. It was, perhaps only fitting, given the number of heroes who thrilled Indian fans in the past few days.

Earlier in the day, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had won the women's doubles, again a first for India. The record haul was, of course, set up by the shooters, with Gagan Narang bagging four golds. The wrestlers, led by world champ Sushil Kumar, too obliged adoring fans. But golds also came from some delightfully unexpected quarters.

There was teenager Deepika Kumari, who came up with a golden double in the women's recurve archery event. India hadn't won a gold in either track or field since 1958. It got one in each, with Krishna Poonia leading a clean sweep of the women's discus throw, and the women's 4x400m relay squad beating the more fancied Nigeria and England.

Indeed, the relay win, greeted by full-throated acclaim from a packed JN Stadium, moved former athletics great and head of the London 2012 Olympics OC Sebestian Coe to declare, "It may just have changed the direction of track and field not only in India, but in Asia. Hundreds of millions of people tonight know India can perform at the top level." And then there was Ashish Kumar, who didn't win a gold but made history by winning India's first-ever CWG medals in gymnastics - a silver and bronze.

So does Delhi 2010 herald the arrival of India as a sporting nation? It may be premature to say so. The fact is, the competition wasn't always world-class.

The Asian Games that follow shortly will give us a more accurate assessment of where we stand. But at least while the Games lasted, Indians tuned in to many sports other than cricket. The Saina-Wong epic was followed as enthusiastically on TV as any T20 thriller. In that - and the youngsters who will be inspired to come up with similar feats - lies hope for the future.

Can India beat its 57 medals record at Asiad?

Ask the Indian medal winners at the Commonwealth Games and they'll tell you it's just a stepping stone for the November Asian Games to be held in Guangzou ( China). The Delhi show will surely spur them towards more challenging goals with India looking to improve upon the 57 medals it won in 1982, which remain its best Asiad showing. World-beaters like Sushil Kumar, Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra, MC Mary Kom and Vijender Singh hadn't really emerged then. Guanzhou could add to India's growth as a sporting nation.

TOI

Trecia Smith's choice as best surprises many

2010-10-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell shocked the athletes at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium when he announced Jamaican triple jumper Trecia Smith as the best athlete of the Games ignoring the claims of swimmers Emily Seebohm (8 medals), Alicia Coutts (5 gold) and shooter Gagan Narang (4 gold).

"It was a real surprise when he announced Trecia's name as the best athlete of the Games and declared her the winner of the David Dixon award.

"Nobody knows how they decide it. It is a mystery. The only coincidence was that Fennell is from Jamaica and the award went to a Jamaican," a top Australian journalist told TOI.

According to the CGF the award is decided on the athlete's outstanding performance, fairplay and also the contribution to the team. The award was introduced in 2002 in the memory of David Dixon, former secretary of the CGF.

According to the CGF website, athletes are nominated by their Commonwealth Games Association at the end of the final day of competition and the winner is selected by a panel comprising the CGF president and representatives from each of the six Commonwealth regions.

The choice for the best athlete came as a surprise for many. Tracia Smith only had one gold, which she retained after winning it for the first time in Melbourne.

TOI

Commonwealth Games: Now, over to Glasgow

2010-10-14T21:04:00.002-07:00

NEW DELHI: As the Commonwealth Games flag was lowered on Thursday and passed on to the next hosts, Glasgow, the Scots put on a show that gave a glimpse of their homeland. It was all brought to life during the closing ceremony by 352 Scots drawn from the many walks of life and from the length and breadth of the country. From its villages in the Outer Herbides, from the towns in the Borders and from the communities that form the city of Glasgow.

After the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Bob Winter, received the flag and welcomed all to his city in 2014 came a short film that showed the lochs, hills and glens of Scotland. It also portrayed Glasgow's iconic landmarks - including Whitlee Windfarm, Nelson's Monument, River Clyde and the Clyde Arc Bridge.

Merging with the end of the film, a lone piper in a vibrant modern kilt appeared at the centre of the stadium and began to play and the music intensified with each step. The Highland Charge followed with the 352 performers, dressed in tartan kilts, charging towards the piper. The performers then mesmerised the capacity crowd as huge red tartan cloths unfurled creating a labyrinth. A second piper appeared diagonally opposite the original one and the tartans turned into a green maze and created dynamic sequences, including a depiction of the Scottish flag.

Giant inflated structures resembling the Arc Bridge and the eight arches came together to form the armadillo-shaped Clyde Auditorium, which sits on the banks of River Clyde. The Armadillo, managed by 80 people, then spun on is axis to again release the cast members who formed a Celtic knot, ancient decorative symbols. The armadillo then dispersed to form the Loch Ness monster which left wagging its tail.

Fact box

* 1.8 km of tartan fabric were used to create the costumes

* 30.5m was the length of the inflatable armadillo
* Jonathan Graham and Craig Muirhead, the two hero pipers, were selected after a rigorous audition process that also involved the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association

TOI

'Bravo India' say Australian, New Zealand media

2010-10-14T21:04:00.001-07:00

SYDNEY: India defied a disastrous start to produce a safe and successful Commonwealth Games which were running smoothly by the final stages, Australian and New Zealand media said on Friday.

"Bravo India" declared an editorial in Sydney tabloid the Daily Telegraph which described the New Delhi Games as a "glorious competition".

"This isn't down to mere good fortune. Games officials have worked hard throughout to ensure a Games to remember, and for all the right reasons," it said, as it praised the South Asian giant's best ever gold medal haul.

New Delhi organisers suffered a barrage of bad publicity in the lead-up to the October 3-14 competition, with complaints about the unfinished and unhygienic athletes' village, the risk of dengue fever and venue safety fears.

Days ahead of the event, the Australian government had warned of a "high risk of terrorism" during the Games, while athletes were also put off by the risk of contracting dengue fever.

But while the Games struggled against construction delays, empty stadiums and ticketing chaos, its security lockdown was effective, said The Australian.

"That India, a giant chaotic democracy located in one of the world's most unstable regions, managed to avert a major terror attack in the face of serious threats from regional militants is a significant mark of success," it said.

And while there had been incompetence from organisers, the locals had picked up the pieces and shown that "even the biggest mess can be cleaned up", The Sydney Morning Herald said.

"They've pulled it off admirably and deserve better than the carping, nit-picking and borderline racism that has masqueraded as informed coverage of the Games," wrote journalist Peter Hanlon.

The New Zealand Press Association said organisation gradually improved as the Games progressed, to the point where everything was running like clockwork just before the closing ceremony.

"For a Games where all the (Western media) talk going in was about cancellation, or a swift transfer to Melbourne, and where athletes bailed out pre-Games for fears over their safety and hygiene, Delhi far exceeded expectations," it said.

"(By the closing ceremony) Games buses were running on time, crowds at many venues were sizeable, as security guards relented on their frisking frenzy.

"Delhi did perform, and it did deliver, albeit in a quirky, colourful, spasmodic, random and often frustrating fashion."

However, it poured cold water on Delhi's ambitions to host the 2020 Olympics, concluding: "Those Games, India is not ready for."

TOI

CWG: Glasgow steals the show at closing gala

2010-10-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: After the spellbinding opening ceremony and a stirring surge in the medals tally, the mood in the Capital was expectedly upbeat: tonight's-gonna-be-a-good-night was on every lip, apart from the good old Delhi question: Do you have a pass?

By late evening, it looked like everybody indeed had one: all roads led to the statuesque Nehru Stadium, bang in the heart of the city. This time, traffic moved smoothly and metro trains kept their tryst with timings.

Sadly, the closing ceremony itself did not keep its date with history, or turn out to be another out-of-this-world experience. Sure, it wasn't expected to be as elaborate or extravagant as the opening ceremony; but it was barely pleasing to the eye or soothing to the soul. It was slowed down by ceremonies and formalities and, worse, spiked by long-drawn speeches. The segments too, despite their splendour and magnitude, failed to enthral; many were left with an empty feeling, even if they didn't feel let down.

One final blast in the end, though, uplifted by a stunning laser display and an array of singers, musicians and dancers from Bollywood somewhat made up for the lack of lustre. But it paled in front of the show compiled by Glasgow, hosts of the next Games in 2014.

In less than 30 minutes, they left an impression with their energy, vibrancy and giant props that all but stole the day. Typically, the aerostat, which was the centre of attraction on the opening day, was a distant spectator on Thursday. It had taken its position in the sky well before the show began and it watched the spectacle below, impassively flashing images from the Games gone by.

Almost everyone was there, though, right from Manmohan Singh to Sonia Gandhi, to all the ministers at their command: it was time to bask in the afterglow of a show-that-didn't-go-wrong, you see. Suresh Kalmadi, the man of the moment - however, ironic that may sound - made it a point to thank everybody who could make a difference, rather than those who had already made a difference.

He even thanked Lalit Bhanot; allowing the crowds to break out into derisive laughter one last time.

Well, the Games are over and at least a few people should be given credit: after all, India not only wowed the world with its opening ceremony but also managed to wade through the 12 days without any major mishap. More importantly, it climbed all the way to the Number 2 position on the medals chart, clinching 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze.

Terrific Thursday, though, didn't start on a promising note: the hockey team, after dazzling Australia with its stick-work and electric forays, capitulated to a numbing 0-8 defeat; but, by afternoon, the spirits were up again as Saina Nehwal staged a remarkable recovery, staving off even a match point, to win the badminton woman's gold.

Many skeptics, including acerbic sportspersons and writers from England and Australia, went away as converts.

The Sanias and Bindras are not the only heroes anymore, let alone the Sachins and Dravids; India now has a Phogat (two actually, or is it five?), a Poonia and a Narang too. Archers, wrestlers, boxers and runners have proved that we can be a sporting nation, if our boys and girls are given the right platform, if not the right encouragement and incentive.

The people have also demonstrated that they will come forward and support any sport, from anywhere, as long as they are in the mould of winners. Let us not look at reality though, which is just a month away; let us not spoil the party by talking about crouching tigers and hidden dragons and Asian Games already.

If the opening ceremony was all about unity in diversity, the closing ceremony was all about power. The power in India's culture, in its armed forces, in its future and in its ability to innovate and entertain too.

TOI

India shining as Commonwealth Games set for gala closing

2010-10-13T07:26:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: As the curtains come down on Thursday, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi will be remembered as much for India's ability to pull off a world class mega event as about sporting glory - controversies notwithstanding.

They will leave behind a city with spanking new infrastructure that played host to 6,700 competitors from 71 nations and territories who were given top class security -- and glimpses of the country's rich cultural heritage and hospitality.

The closing ceremony Thursday promises to be a spectacular and youthful song and dance celebration, with a laser show as its highlight, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which is where the grand opening ceremony was held Oct 3.

Involving 7,000 performers, the theme of the closing function will showcase martial arts and include segments like 'Tribute to the Motherland' and 'Music of Universal Love'. The Rs.400 million ($9 million) aerostat - the world's largest helium balloon - that was the star attraction at the opening ceremony - will again be put to use.

ET

India need to tighten defence in final against Australia

2010-10-13T07:23:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Riding the wave is a tricky business as India will doubtless discover when they take on world champions Australia in the men's hockey final of the Commonwealth Games on Thursday.

India's smashing wins against Pakistan (7-4) and England (on penalties) point to a team that is on a high and riding a wave of popular support.

However, it will take a greater effort from India in the final against a team that cruelly exposed the hosts in the league by winning 5-2 last week.

"We should guard against repeating our mistakes in the final," said India skipper Rajpal Singh in an obvious reference to the two blunders at the start that helped Australia go up 2-0 by the 11th minute.

When ahead, the Aussies are a difficult and different proposition as India found to their grief a week ago and this will be on their minds on the morrow.

"It is not so much about fitness as the game you play. The final is to be played at 11.30 in the morning and we have had all our games around that time while India's matches have been in the evenings. This could be an advantage for us," said Aussie team coach Ric Charlesworth.

India showed great character in the semifinal against England when they came back from a 1-3 deficit to equalise and then clinch the tie-breaker on goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri's save, and it will have to be more of the same against Australia.

India's major concern is the defence where Dhananjay Mahadik is a step too slow, wing-half Prabodh Tirkey is nursing a problematic back and so also penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh who suffered a near life-threatening injury in 2006 in a freak shooting incident.

These shortcomings could get magnified in a tight match. "You got to put away as many chances as you can to win a match," said Charlesworth. The Indians would do well to bear this in mind.

One of India's best options against Australia would be to police Jamie Dwyer, who has been a livewire in the midfield with his roving duties besides lending depth to the Australian frontline where the likes of Des Abbott, Glenn Turner and Simon Orchard have been in top form.

Adding another dimension to the Aussie line-up is the penalty corner specialist Luke Doerner who currently tops the goal-scorers' list with six conversions.

Ranged against them are the skillful Indian forwards like youngsters Sarvanjit Singh and Dharamvir Singh, and the experienced trio of Tushar Khandkar and Shivendra Singh and skipper Rajpal Singh, who on their day can cut through any defence.

Thus, all the ingredients that make for a potentially exciting final are in the pot, and whatever the outcome, one can expect top quality hockey that the faithful fans, braving the mid-day heat, deserve to watch.

TOI

Narang happy with India's medal count

2010-10-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Instead of harping on the occasional misses, ace marksman Gagan Narang preferred to look at the positives after the shooting event of the Commonwealth Games came to an end on Wednesday, with India bagging a whopping 30 medals, including 14 gold.

Apart from their impressive gold haul, India has also grabbed 11 silver and five bronze medals, and Narang seemed more than satisfied with the show, including his own. The number of yellow metals, though, is less than what it was four years ago in Melbourne.

"I am very happy with my performance, four gold medals with four new Games record is good. I did struggle a bit with prone position but I think we should look at the positives," said the rifle ace, who had clinched the yellow metal in 10-metre air rifle (both singles and pairs) and 50-metre 3 positions rifle (singles and pairs).

After a bright start to his campaign, Narang somewhat lost the momentum and failed to a win a medal in his last two events -- singles and pairs 50-metre rifle prone event -- though he cannot be blamed for missing out on a medal in the pairs event.

Narang scored an impressive 593 in the final of the pairs event on Tuesday, but his partner Hariom Singh, down with flu, shot badly at crucial junctures.

The unassuming Hyderabadi, however, refused to blame his partner for blunders that probably cost him his fifth medal.

"The person is doing his best. It's a team effort and you can't blame just one person for not doing well. We can take a lot of lessons from the losses," Narang said.

Narang's failure to qualify for the final came as a shock to many, but rifle coach Stanislav Lapidus defended the Hyderabadi saying that he was shooting with a gun which did not have good barrel and that others were using much better weapon.

"I am happy with the overall performance but I was expecting more from Gagan. But don't blame him, you can blame his gun," Lapidus said.

The good news, though, was that Narang is getting a new rifle before the World Cup finals scheduled to be held later this month.

Asked whether Narang would use the new gun in the World Cup and the upcoming Guangzhou Asian Games in November, national coach Sunny Thomas said, "The World Cup is too close but he can use it provided he gets the ammunition."

Asked if he was satisfied with the performance of shotgun shooters, who have failed to win a single gold in the competition despite having world number two, Ronjan Sodhi, in the team, Thomas said, "Shotgun is a very strong field with team like Australia in fray.

"In CWG especially, it's tough in shotgun, but Asian Games will be much easier for them compared to rifle shooters."

TOI

CWG: Govt will dole out highest cash kitty ever

2010-10-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: As India surpassed their Manchester Games haul of 30 gold medals on Tuesday, the government stepped into the picture, promising to dole out the highest reward money ever for winners. Gold medallists will earn Rs 20 lakh each, silver Rs 10 lakh and bronze medallists Rs 6 lakh for their efforts.

Tuesday's count of 32 gold, 25 silver and 32 bronze, a total of 89 medals, means the government will be giving away rewards to the tune of approximately Rs 11 crore as of now. This is the highest ever, surpassing the previous high of Rs 9.22 crore given away after the 2002 Commonwealth Games. After the Melbourne Games in 2006, the government had announced rewards totalling Rs 3.76 crore.

Incidentally, in case of team or pairs events, gold medallists don't always get Rs 20 lakh each. In such cases, each participant gets a quantum of amount calculated according to specific formulae. For eg, in a pairs event comprising two persons, reward money for gold is hiked to Rs 30 lakh, with each participant getting Rs 15 lakh. In team events comprising more than two participants, the quantum of amount is hiked accordingly to ensure that each gold medallist gets at least Rs 10 lakh.

Sports ministry officials are glad that athletes are making the country proud with their performances. "We are happy with our performance as the projected tally was of 96 medals. We will have to wait and see whether we will surpass that mark," Rahul Bhatnagar, joint secretary in the ministry, told TOI.

Last month, sports minister MS Gill had doubled cash awards for gold medallists in the CWG and Asian Games. Bhatnagar, who is in charge of the international sports division that handled the preparations for the Delhi Games, said the government tried to do everything for the preparation of the athletes.

Gold Won: 32/Gold: 20 lac Total: 6.4 Cr
Silver Won: 25/Silver: 10 lac Total: 2.5 Cr
Bronze Won: 32/Bronze: 6 lac Total: 1.92 Cr

TOI

Indian athlete Rani Yadav fails dope test at Commonwealth Games

2010-10-13T06:51:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Indian race walker Rani Yadav has tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone, becoming the third person at the Commonwealth Games to be caught doping.

The Commonwealth Games Federation says Yadav, who was sixth in the women's 20-kilometer walk on Saturday, has been provisionally suspended from the event.

Yadav could be banned for two years if found guilty. Over the previous two days, two Nigerian runners were found to be positive for the banned stimulant Methylhexaneamine, with Osayomi Oludamola later stripped of her gold medal in the women's 100-meter race. Hurdler Samuel Okon, who did not win a medal, also tested positive.

Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell said more than 1,300 doping samples had been collected so far at the games.

"Everyone would concede that to have three doping cases of those 1,300 tests is not a bad record," Fennell said. "And two of those have been concluded for substances that are considered by many to be not in the serious area of doping activity, which is stimulants. This new case has not been heard and I would not want to make any comments on that."

The World Anti-Doping Agency recently loosened the classification of Methylhexaneamine for next year to the "specified stimulant" list, which covers drugs that are more susceptible to inadvertent use and can carry reduced penalties. Sanctions for use of the drug can be reduced if athletes can prove they did not intend to enhance performance. Penalties can range from a warning to a two-year ban.

WADA said Methylhexaneamine was sold as a medicine until the early 1970s and has now reappeared in some nutritional supplements and cooking oils.

Nandrolone, however, is a steroid used to enhance performance. The Commonwealth Games seem to have improved their anti-doping efforts after being criticized by WADA following the games in Melbourne four years ago.

India has excelled at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at this year's games, and on Tuesday night the country won only its second Commonwealth Games gold medal ever on the track when the women's 4x400 relay sprinted to victory.

Indians also recorded a sweep of the medals in the women's discus on Monday.

"It's unfortunate," organizing committee secretary-general Lalit Bhanot said of the positive result before adding that India's national anti-doping agency is "very serious about this."

"It sends a message that if people are going to use drugs, they will get caught," Bhanot said.

The CGF said all medal winners have or will be tested at the games, as well as other athletes at random.

TOI

CWG: Sharath-Subhajit win 33rd gold medal for India

2010-10-13T06:50:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: The Indian duo of Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha came from behind to win the gold medal against Singapore's pair of Gao and Yang in the men's doubles table tennis event on Wednesday.

The match went down to the wire but the Indian top seeds pair kept their cool in the deciding fifth game to win the men's doubles title 3-2 in their favour.

Sharath and Saha had a bad start as they lost their first game 9-11 but then bounced back strongly to win the second and third games 12-10 and 11-4 respectively.

Sharath and Saha lived up to their top billing and won the gold 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 5-11, 11-8 in thrilling five games final.

TOI

Aussie boycott threat wins closing ceremony change

2010-10-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

SYDNEY: Australia have won a change to Commonwealth Games closing ceremony arrangements after threatening a boycott over poor conditions at the troubled event's opening, reports said on Wednesday.

Chef de mission Steve Moneghetti said the team took a tough line after athletes were made to wait in a 40-degree Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) "Tunnel of Hell" for an hour before parading through the New Delhi stadium on October 3.

Moneghetti told The Australian newspaper the country's Games association chief, Perry Crosswhite, made the boycott threat during talks with Indian officials.

"It was Perry that was threatening. He's taller than me so he's a good threatener," Moneghetti said. "We were representing Australia's view but it was a group decision.

"We were at the forefront of that process but every country was aware of the issues and supported us."

Public broadcaster ABC said Indian officials had pledged not to leave athletes waiting in depths of the stadium after talks with Australia.

"We raised some issues about Australia participating in the closing ceremony and if they weren't addressed, then that wasn't going to occur," Moneghetti was quoted as saying by the ABC.

"That's been resolved to some degree and at this point in time Australia will be participating in the closing ceremony.

"Rather than entering into, what did I call it, the tunnel of hell or the tunnel of horror, we are now going straight out," Moneghetti added.

Moneghetti, who had avoided criticising chaotic preparations for the Games, was incensed at athletes being treated "like cattle" at the opening ceremony, forcing an apology from head organiser Suresh Kalmadi.

"It was over 40 degrees without a doubt. We were treated like cattle. It was disgraceful," Moneghetti said at the time.

Australia have a large team of about 380 athletes in Delhi and are the runaway medals table leaders with 68 golds heading into the final two days before Thursday's closing ceremony.

Meanwhile, a New Zealand Olympic Committee spokeswoman said the team had no intention of boycotting the closing ceremony and believed the opening ceremony had gone smoothly.

TOI

Record gold haul, hockey final spot

2010-10-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: On a day of goosebump-raising performances by the men's hockey team and the women relay runners, India on Tuesday registered its best gold medal haul in the Commonwealth Games. With 32 golds in its kitty, and a few more likely on Wednesday, many former greats are calling Delhi 2010 the beginning of India's rise in marquee sports like athletics.

That India would overhaul its gold haul of 30 at Manchester 2002 was predicted by TOI on October 9, but the quality of the performances has come as a pleasant surprise. At the Dhyan Chand Stadium, India produced rousing hockey to wipe off a two-goal deficit and beat world no. 4 England, winning 5-4 in penalties after the game was locked 3-3 in extra time. It's the first time it'll win a hockey medal in CWG since the sport was introduced in 1998. Top seed Saina Nehwal too entered the badminton women's singles final.

India's total so far: 32 (G) – 25 (S) – 32 (B) = 89

TOI

Indian challenge ends in squash events

2010-10-12T05:58:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: It was curtains for India in the team squash events of the Commonwealth Games after fourth seeded pair of national champions Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa went down fighting to the Malaysians duo of Nicol David and Beng Hee Ong in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles category on Tuesday.

The Indian pair gave a glimpse of their fighting abilities before going down against the third seed Malaysian pair 5-11 11-7 7-11 in almost an hour contest at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

The capacity crowd present at the all-glass court arena cheered relentlessly for the Indian pair, but that did not prove sufficient to raise the confidence of Ghosal and Chinappa.

The pair had claimed a place in the last eight of the Mixed event after a final qualifying round win over Scottish pair Frania Gillen-Buchert and Alan Clyne and a bye in the prequarters on Monday.

David, women's singles Commonwealth gold medallist, and Beng Hee had suffered the surprise early pool defeat against English pair of Sarah Kippax and Adrian Grant before bouncing back in the contest to reach the last eight stage.

"Both of us played well today but that was not enough to secure a win. Team events are altogether a different ball game. There were few things where we could have done better but we fell short of expectations today," said a disappointed Ghosal.

"There were some talks that Joshna did not play well today and committed few errors but she was not at all weak with her game. It's not that if I had played with Dipika (Ghosal's original partner in the mixed doubles), results would have been different. One need to understand Joshna's strength are different from that of Dipika.

"I don't want to use Dipika's excuse for losing the game. We played well but it was not our day," added the 24-year-old from Kolkata.

Malaysia's David said, "It's always tough to play against these guys. They are good and I had to pick my game up at several junctures. As part of the strategy, the Indians were attacking me and we were attacking Joshna.

"Joshna made few errors and we got few lucky points. Ghosal was great with his speed and angular shots. Overall it was a tough game," admitted David.

In the first game, the Malaysian pair was severly tested by the Indian duo, bidding to win country's first squash medal.

TOI

Nigerian hurdler Okon fails drugs test

2010-10-12T05:56:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Nigerian Commonwealth Games 110m hurdler Samuel Okon has failed a drugs test, which was announced on Tuesday, becoming the second athlete from the African nation to return a positive test.

Okon, who finished sixth in the 110m hurdles final, tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexanamine, said Mike Fennell, the Commonwealth Games Federation president.

On Monday, it was revealed that Nigeria's women's 100m gold medal winner Osayemi Oludamola had also tested positive for the same substance.

"On anti-doping, we have now conducted 1,200 tests and again I regret to inform you that a second athlete has tested positive," said Fennell.

"It is Nigerian 110m hurdler Samuel Okon who tested positive for the same substance (as Oludamola)."

He said a provisional hearing would be held into the matter later Tuesday but that Okon had waived his right to have a B test.

Fennell added that his team had held talks with the Nigerian delegation about the embarrassing test results and he was "satisfied they are taking the matter very seriously."

TOI

Heena, Anu win 31st gold for India

2010-10-12T05:54:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Heena Sidhu and Anu Raj Singh won the 31st gold for India in the 19th Commonwealth Games by winning the 10 m air pistol pairs women's event.

This is India's 14th gold medal from shooting.

Samresh Jung and Chandrashekhar Kumar Choudhary won silver in Pairs 25m Standard Pistol Men.

Tejaswani Sawant also won a silver in Singles 50m Rifle Prone.

India's medal winners on Tuesday

Gold (1)	Silver (2)	Bronze (0)
Heena Sidhu, Anu Raj Singh (women's 10 m air pistol pairs)	Samresh Jung, Chandrashekhar Kumar Choudhary (Pairs 25m Standard Pistol Men)

Tejaswani Sawant (Singles 50m Rifle Prone)

Later in the day, more medals of the yellow hue are awaited by the hosts at the shooting range, where four-gold hero Gagan Narang would be striving to draw level with 2006 Games hero Samaresh Jung and become the new "Gold Finger".

Narang, who had a two-day break after clinching his fourth title at the Dr Karni Singh range, will be gunning for the men's 50m rifle prone pairs event with Hariom Singh.

World champion Tejaswini Sawant is also competing in the women's 50m rifle prone individual event.

Indian shuttlers, led by Saina Nehwal, and paddlers, spearheaded by Achanta Sharath Kamal, too would be in the thick of action along with squash players Spirav Ghosal and Joshna Chinnappa in the mixed doubles quarters.

The men's and women's relay squad are to run in the finals of the athletics event. Also in action would be triple jumpers Renjith Maheswary and Amarjeet Singh, along with javelin throwing men's trio of Kashinath Naik, S amarjeet Singh and Rajender Singh.

Lalita Babar and Jhuma Khatun would be running in the energy-sapping women's 5000m.

TOI

Somdev provides only golden hue in tennis

2010-10-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Fields of gold, the tennis courts certainly weren't.

Expected to yield at least three gold medals, India came away with a solitary piece of yellow metal, thanks to world No. 97 Somdev Devvarman. The 25-year-old top seed kept his promise and won India their first-ever gold in what could be tennis' only appearance at the Commonwealth Games. Glasgow, the 2014 hosts, have opted to go without tennis even though they have in their ranks world No. 4 Andy Murray.

Devvarman is under no illusions about his game. He knows he doesn't have a forehand that can blast the opposition off the court or a serve that makes returning impossible. What he does have is an incalculable amount of stamina which ensures he can outrun and outlast his opponent on any given day. A relative newbie to the team, his display of emotion after his win showed that the win meant a big deal to him.

A field that was hurt by high-profile withdrawals - Murray, Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis and Samantha Stosur - the quality of tennis never lifted from average to interesting till the very end. Matches were over in less than 30 minutes and it was only from the semifinal stages, when the seeds clashed, that the Delhi crowds had decent tennis to watch.

Sania Mirza, who still commands a sizeable popularity among fans, grew from strength to strength, but even when spurred on by the very vocal support, couldn't halt Australian Anastasia Rodionova's medal spree and had to be content with a silver in singles and a bronze in the women's doubles, in which she partnered Rushmi Chankravarthi.

The biggest disappointment for India came when Grand Slam champions Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi flopped in their quest for gold and had to fight off compatriots Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna for the bronze.

Rodionova, a naturalized citizen, never left her allegiance to Australia in doubt. Just a look at her yellow and green painted nails along with the zeal she brought to the court even though she had to play two matches every day of the week in hot and humid Delhi were enough to see that winning here was bigger than just winning medals. She finally collected two golds and one silver.

The world No. 65, unlike other competitors across the board, who regularly complained about the crowd, was gracious enough to acknowledge the droves that turned up to watch the game, even though they cheered her errors more than her winners.

How the Indians fared (4 medals)

Gold: Somdev Devvarman
Silver: Sania Mirza
Bronze: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi & Sania Mirza and Rushmi Chakravarthi

TOI

Archery: India hope to find the zone in Asiad too

2010-10-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: There were three gold medals to show but overall India's display was not something to gloat about. Well, that is the mood in the Indian camp as they train their bows for the forthcoming Asian Games next month.

"We should have won at least four gold medals. It's a bit disappointing," remarked Rahul Banerjee, who won the individual recurve gold, encapsulating the mood, a day after the archery events concluded at the Yamuna Sports Complex.

The men's failure to justify the top billing in team recurve championship besides Jayanta Talukdar and Dola Banerjee faltering ahead of the individual finals meant that England and Australia had a field day.

English archers, in fact, emerged the undisputed rulers in compound category, winning all four gold on offer. It was also a historic moment for wheelchair-user Danielle Brown, who became the first Paralympian to compete in an able-bodied event at the CWG and claimed glory as part of England's compound team.

Yet, Deepika Kumari provided the golden glow. The way this 17-year-old girl from Ranchi blew away England's five-time Olympian Alison Williamson was fairytale stuff. Deepika will need to carry the momentum to the Asian Games where the challenge is more pronounced with the presence of traditional powerhouses like South Korea and China.

But she is confident of breaking India's wait for a medal at the Asian Games and Olympics. "Her hunger for success is an education for everybody who wants to make archery as a sporting career," said Dola, guardian and inspiration for the teenager.

With accolades and financial windfall coming in thick and fast (Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda has announced an award of Rs 10 lakh for her), she looks poised for more glory.

The focus, thus, at the national camp which gets under way at the SAI Eastern Centre from Tuesday, should be on reshuffling the men's team composition. Tarundeep Rai's lacklustre form here (he failed to make the individual recurve quarters) is a worry which demands immediate remedy. Perhaps, it is time Mangal Champia was recalled for the Asian Games.

Deepika and others, however, will have little time to celebrate their CWG show since 'Destination Guangzhou' is already on the horizon.

How the Indians fared (8 medals)

Gold (3): Deepika Kumari (women's Recurve individual), Rahul Banerjee (men's Recurve individual), Dola Banerjee, Deepika & Bombayala Devi (women's team Recurve)
Silver (1): Men's team Compound (Ritul, Jignas and Srither)
Bronze (4): Dola (individual Recurve), Jayanta (individual Recurve), Men's team Recurve and Women's team Compound

TOI

New twist to 100m: Gold medalist Oludamola tests positive

2010-10-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The jinx in women's 100m at the ongoing Commonwealth Games continued. On Monday, gold medalist Osayemi Oludamola of Nigeria was provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance. She now faces the prospect of losing her medal. Oludamola attended a Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) provisional hearing on Monday afternoon, which upheld her suspension till the result of the test on her B sample arrives on Wednesday. Oludamola had asked for the B sample to be tested.

CGF chief Mike Fennell had announced earlier in the day that Oludamola had tested positive for methylhexaneamine (MHA), a drug which had afflicted 12 Indian sportspersons in the build-up to the Games. The 'tainted dozen' escaped immediate punishment after WADA shifted it from non-specified substances list to the specified substances list. Saurabh Vij (shot putter) even competed at the Games, without any success though.

Fennell revealed that over 950 tests had been conducted and out of 700 results arrived at so far, only Oludamola had been found positive. The Nigerian got the women's 100m gold after Australian Sally Pearson was stripped of her first position owing to a mistaken identity after a false start.

The 24-year-old Oludamola competed in the 200m semifinals on Sunday but failed to qualify for the final. Oludamola had been quite harsh after Pearson's disqualification and had been quoted as saying: "I don't know why they allow people to participate in competitions if they cannot follow the rules."

TOI

Deepika, Sushil steal show as India regain 2nd spot

2010-10-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

STAFF WRITER 18:34 HRS IST

New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) The fierce battle for gaining the second spot in the Commonwealth Games continued in earnest between India and England on the seventh day of competitions with the hosts edging in front by bagging four gold medals.

Teenage archer Deepika Kumari upset an Olympic bronze medallist to win the recurve gold, Harpreet Singh clinched the 25m centre fire pistol gold, archer Rahul Banerjee grabbed the men's individual recurve gold and world wrestling champion Sushil Kumar won the 66kg title by destroying all his rivals.

Vijay Kumar bagged silver behind Harpreet, freestyle wrestler Anuj Kumar also got a silver in men's 84 kg, trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu secured a bronze while Jayanta Talukdar finished third behind Banerjee.

Sania Mirza and Rushmi Chakravarthi beat compatriots Nirupama Sanjeev and Poojashree Venkatesh to secure the women's doubles bronze in tennis and swell India's medal kitty.

Vijender floors Namibian boxer in 98 seconds!

2010-10-10T21:30:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: For Indians accustomed to three-hour Bollywood movies, three-hour CWG opening ceremony and three hours of T20 excitement, watching Vijender Singh's bouts must be a very different experience. You blink and it's over.

On Sunday, in front of sell-out house, Singh showcased his version of the 'Theater of the Absurd' when the world champion floored Namibia's Elias Nashville in just 1 minute, 38 seconds in the first round with a piercing left that appeared from a distance to be just a graze to the chin.

Nashville, who fell due to the impact, tried to lift himself up and the crowd too hoped that he did. But Nashville's corner-men picked him up, pushed him gently down to the stool and removed the laces of his gloves before 23-year-old could even utter a word, thereby cutting short the Vijender-show by 7 minutes, 62 seconds.

Vijender blew plenty of kisses to express his appreciation of the noisy fans. In fact, it won't be stretching belief to say that he blew more kisses than he landed his counters. Vijender had earlier reached the quarterfinals on Friday when the referee had stopped the contest against his Kenyan opponent at 16-1 with 28 seconds remaining in the second round.

"I want to fight... knockout just happens," said Vijender (75kg), who reckoned that it's just not because of his reputation that his challengers are going down so easily. "It doesn't make a difference, if you go out there with a swagger. You have to punch them. Only then will they know about your reputation."

Meanwhile, defending champion Akhil Kumar bowed out after losing to Olympic bronze medalist Bruno Julie in the quarterfinals. "The effort was there but I lost... A loss is a loss. If I scream now about injustice, that scores weren't given on some of the punches, it won't matter. I'm not disappointed. If God has written this as my fate then I have to accept it," said Akhil, who had beaten Julie in the Melbourne Games final.

Akhil appeared a bit jaded and couldn't dig deep when it mattered. He lost 7-5. Meanwhile, Jai Bhagwan (60kg), Manoj Kumar (64kg), Dilbag Singh (69kg) all went through to the semifinals to assure India of more medals. Bhagwan blanked Waheed Sogbamu of Nigeria 10-0 while Dilbag overcame Botswana's Moabi Mothiba 11-3.

"If I get gold, my life will change. There will be fame and lots of financial benefits," said Bhagwan, who dedicated his medal to Vijender who motivated him to come back to the ring after a break of two years. "I was low on confidence going into the ring because Akhil had just lost. But as soon as my punches started landing and I started getting the scores, my confidence soared."

TOI

Commonwealth Games: Women's 200m race postponed

2010-10-10T21:29:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: For the second time in the track and field events in the Commonwealth Games here, an athlete has protested after being disqualified in the women's 200m semifinals on Sunday and the final has been postponed for Monday.

Cyprus sprinter Eleni Artymata appealed to the jury after she was disqualified after winning the semifinals (heat 1) and that put her in the finals, which was scheduled late Sunday night. But a terse press release issued by technical delegate Bill Bailey said the event has been postponed till 17:50 hrs on Monday due to "the results of semifinals being appealed to the jury".

It is learnt that Artymata, who ran in lane No 5 in the semifinals, had cut into the other lane but the race officials did not see it and she was declared winner and among the finalists.

But she was disqualified after one of the athletes lodged an appeal and Cypriot counter-appealed to the jury which was yet to take a decision.

TOI

CWG: India thrash Pakistan 7-4 to reach hockey semifinals

2010-10-10T21:28:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: One preliminary group game of hockey brought the Commonwealth Games alive on Sunday at the National Stadium. If sports is all about unadulterated joy, high emotion and great drama, then the India- Pakistan match provided all of it and more as 30,000 fans experienced salvation.

After all, you don't see Rahul Gandhi jumping for joy too often. On this day, he could not help but go with the flow as the stadium swayed to the tune of 'Chak De, India'. Rahul, sitting by Sonia Gandhi's side, cheered like a young, exuberant fan every time India found the net.

And they found it as many as seven times. In an incredibly high-octane, thrill-a-minute match, India, in a must-win situation, bamboozled Pakistan 7-4 to make the semifinals. While this equalled the record of the most goals India have ever scored against Pakistan in a match, it also continued the trend of their recent domination over the arch-rivals.

Barring small periods here and there, India played with great purpose and control against a team which could not withstand the pressure of 11 men on the field and thousands off it. That the Pakistani team had several newcomers helped the hosts who took full advantage.

Taking the game by the scruff of the neck, India all but settled the issue by the 20th minute by going 4-0 up. Sandeep Singh converted two penalty corners to make it 2-0 before finding Shivendra Singh in the 'D' with a beautiful pass which he coolly slotted home. And even before the celebratory roar had subsided, the fourth goal was added when Sarawanjit Singh angled it in after a Sandeep PC hit was blocked by the defence.

The crowd had by then gone hoarse with the constant cheering and shouting. The situation calmed down a bit when Pakistan got two back as India went off the boil in the last minutes of the first half.

Half-time at 4-2, Pakistan still had a chance, especially as they needed only a draw to advance. Those aspirations were mowed down when Danish Mujtaba reacted sharply to score off a PC rebound and Dharamvir Singh scored a mercurial field goal off a Shivendra pass to make in 6-2 by the 45th minute. All that Pakistan could now do was to scrounge for respectability. They did that with two goals but in between, Shivendra got his second to complete a rather fulsome scoreline.

TOI

India's biggest medal haul in sight at Commonwealth Games

2010-10-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Six gold medals on Friday - the halfway mark of the 2010 Commonwealth Games - took India's gold tally to 20 and ensured that it is well on its way to overhauling its best-ever medal haul at the Games.

With a certain Gagan Narang on fire and more medals expected in the coming days, India could easily trump the previous high of 30 gold medals, earned in Manchester eight years ago.

Incidentally, that haul was inflated by the fact that each weight category of weightlifting awarded three gold medals, a practice that has been discontinued since then.

Narang picked up his third gold medal in the competition on Friday and looks good for at least three more.

Over the next two days, Dola Banerjee and Deepika Kumari in the women's individual recurve event, and Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee in men's recurve could fetch India gold.

Sushil Kumar (66kg) leads India's gold hopes in men's freestyle wrestling, while Yogeshwar Dutt (60kg), Anuj Kumar (84kg) and Anil Kumar (55kg) are the other contenders.

Tennis could also see gold in the individual events if Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman stay true to their rankings. National record holder Sarabjit and Monika Devi (75kg) too are strong gold medal prospects in weightlifting.

All of which should see India canter past the mark of 30, and help it as it battles to keep the second spot against an increasingly intense challenge from England.

India's medal winners on Friday
Gold (6)

Silver (5)

Bronze (3)

India's total tally so far: 20 (G)-16 (S)-12 (B) = 48

TOI

Where are the tickets? OC blames server

2010-10-08T21:30:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: If you stood in a queue to buy tickets for a Commonwealth Games event and were eventually turned away, don't blame the Organising Committee. On a day when the stadiums, empty so far, began filling up dramatically, OC chairperson Suresh Kalmadi insisted that all was well.

''There are 14 lakh tickets for spectators for all the sports events. Of these, 9 lakh have already been sold,'' he said. What about the rest of the tickets? Reports of spectators being turned away from venues after being told that events are sold out have become common over the past few days. Kalmadi admits it's an issue that the OC is looking into.

On Friday, for several sports events — even those not featuring India — the Games staff was telling people who had turned up at the windows that tickets were not available. Rishabh Arora, who had come to catch the final of the mixed team badminton match between India and Malaysia, couldn't get tickets. ''So, I asked for tickets for the squash match, which didn't have India in any important match. But I was told that tickets were not available.''

This is not an isolated experience. Suddenly, the city seems to be running out of tickets for even matches that have no mass appeal and eventually the stands are empty.

Even those who have bought tickets online are facing a lot of trouble. Many say vouchers are taking hours to be redeemed for a ticket, with counters claiming that the server hasn't updated the central seating arrangements after sales at other counters. Spectators are also complaining about the time spent filling out forms. The form, which has a long set of 10-12 questions, is a replica of the one that you need to fill online. Spectators are questioning the need to fill out the form when the person himself comes to buy tickets. ''Why can't they just sell the ticket like at other events, for instance IPL? What's the need for the form,'' asked Badal, buying tickets at a counter.

Sources however say the reason for people being turned away is the slow server. The server is managed and run by IRCTC. Said a senior OC official, ''It was expected that around 3 lakh hits would be generated for sales every day but the actual number is double of that and the server can't cope.'' With the server becoming slow, sources say the staff at the ticket counters are unable to get a correct picture of the seats available, prompting it to give the stock response — 'sold out' — to people.

Kalmadi says the issue is being looked into though he prefers to attribute the absence of spectators to the long waiting time, longer walks and the midday heat. ''Many ticket-holding spectators haven't turned up for many events during the day but the later matches had full attendance,'' says the OC chairperson.

With many complimentary passes being given away — the OC is nowadays over-run by those looking for such passes — the stands should be filling up fast, especially after OC claims that tickets are much in demand. Lalit Bhanot, OC secretary-general, in fact says that tickets for boxing, wrestling, swimming and hockey are all sold out.

TOI

Two more cobras caught in Village

2010-10-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Two more snakes surfaced at the Commonwealth Games Village on Friday night. The reptiles, both spectacled cobras about 2.5 to 3 feet long, were rescued and prompt action by the authorities ensured there was no scare in the complex.

The first snake was spotted under a security barricade at Gate 2. Wildlife SOS, the NGO contracted by OC to deal with animal emergencies, said they received a call on their helpline from the Village control room around 9.10pm. A team reached the spot at 9.25pm and was in the midst of rescuing the animal when it was told about another snake having been spotted at a barrier near Gate 1, which is used by athletes.

''Within 15-20 minutes, both snakes were rescued,'' said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS. ''In both cases, the area where the snakes had been seen was cordoned off to avoid a scare. The venue manager acted swiftly and this led to an incident-free rescue,'' he said.

Satyanarayan said the snakes, both young cobras, would be released at the city's Asola Wildlife Sanctuary. Spectacled cobras, also known as Indian cobras, are responsible for a large proportion of snakebite cases in the country.

This is the third instance of snakes being found at the Village. A snake was found inside a room that was to be used by a South African athlete, according to the country's high commissioner. Days later, a cobra, was rescued from one of the gates in the Village.

TOI

Cameras mounted on choppers to telecast road events, closing ceremony live

2010-10-08T21:28:00.002-07:00

NEW DELHI: Cycling, marathon and closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games will be telecast live from air using helicopters as the government on Friday decided to allow choppers mounted with cameras to fly over the road events and the Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium.

The helicopters will, however, not be allowed to fly over the 'no-fly' zone during road cycling and marathon as it houses the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament House, Prime Minister's residence and many other vital installations.

While the cycling event is scheduled to be held on Sunday, the marathon will take place on October 14, the concluding day of the show piece event.

The decision to allow helicopters to fly over designated roads for cycling and marathon and the JLN Stadium was taken at a high-level meeting attended by top home ministry officials and security agencies.

The events on the particular stretch, which come under the 'no-fly' zone, will be covered by the ground TV crew.

Earlier, Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell said the aerial shots of Delhi would be a "scenic appearance" and its broadcast all over the world would be a "fantastic" promotion for the Capital.

Meanwhile, the government is expecting that several heads of states would participate in the closing ceremony on October 14.

"Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has, so far, confirmed his participation in the closing ceremony. We are expecting several more heads of state's attendance," a top government official said.

Only one chopper will be used to cover the closing ceremony live from the JLN Stadium on October 14. "The chopper will be used in such a way that it won't interfere with the show inside the stadium," said the official.

TOI

Haryanvi women shine bright in CWG

2010-10-08T21:28:00.001-07:00

ROHTAK: Haryanvi CWG medal winners Geeta and her younger sister Babita, who won gold and silver in wrestling, have not only stormed the male bastion, but also sent a strong message to their state, which has a skewed sex ratio with a girl child being at the receiving end.

The duo's father Mahavir Singh, a former wrestler, had initiated them into wrestling when they were 13. Belonging to a farmer's family in Balali village of Bhiwani district, the girls used to fight with boys at dangals, where they were taken by their father.

TOI

'Saina Nehwal's game has everything'

2010-10-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: That Lee Chong Wei's three Indian 'adventures' ended in disasters is not reason enough to look beyond the Malaysian ace when it comes to pinning the 'favourite' tag at the XIX Commonwealth Games.

The World No.1 is in omnious form, and on a new high after taming his long-time nemesis Lin Dan at the Japan Open last month.

With seemingly no serious challenger to his supremacy this time, Wei is all but assured of ending his Indian title drought.

The reigning All England champion, who, along with Saina Nehwal and Denmark's Tine Baun, is leading the world challenge against Chinese domination, was all praise for the Indian ace as he spoke about the Games and the game. Excerpts:

You don't have a good record in India, and even complained of food poisoning in Hyderabad last year. Any more complaints on your fourth visit?

Actually, we were very apprehensive about coming here. Till the last minute, pulling out of the Games was very much on my mind. We were a bit worried about the security and the facilities. But since we arrived here, everything has been fine. The facilities are good, the food is good and we have no issues about security.

At last you have managed to beat Lin Dan at the Japan Open. Have you figured out a way against him?

I know I am getting better. I am confident that Lin Dan will not be able to dominate me anymore. From now on all our matches will be very evenly-contested, I hope.

You, Saina and Tine are the only shuttlers who are able to challenge the Chinese domination. Will there be more players in future?

I hope so. The Chinese have a very good system. But it's good for the sport if there are more players like Saina. She's giving a tough time to the Chinese.

Which aspect of Saina's game impresses you the most?

She is a great fighter. She has a very good game; her retrieving is good and she moves well on the court. But I think she needs to gain more experience. She has everything in her game and I am expecting her to get better and better.

Who do you think can trouble you here on the court?

We have a pretty strong team. England and India won't be able to stop us.

TOI

Kipsiro lands Uganda's first gold; Geeta in 100m semis

2010-10-06T20:54:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: An Ugandan storm derailed the formidable Kenyan Express in the men's 5,000m at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday. Moses Kipsiro always had a chance of upsetting favourite Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya - the Beijing Olympics silver medallist - and he used his long strides to gift Uganda their first gold medal of the Games.

"I knew I could win here," an ecstatic Moses said. "The last 800m were crucial and I had to hold off the Kenyans in this zone. I am happy that I managed to do that."

Incidentally, India's Sunil Kumar and Sandeep Batham finished 14th and 16th respectively, exposing the vast gulf between them and the Commonwealth's best.

"This is my first Commonwealth Games medal and I am happy with whatever I have got," Eliud said. Fellow Kenyan Mark Kiptoo took the bronze, relegating Vincent Yator to fourth place. Moses led from start to finish.

It was a good day for India, with Abdul Najeeb Qureshi equalling the National record of 10.30s in mens 100m. "My aim for the Commonwealth Games was to break the National record, Qureshi said. Now that I have equalled it, I will try to break it." Having qualified for the semifinals, he will get another chance to go for the record on Thursday.

S Geetha and HM Jyothi made it to the semifinals of women's 100m. Geetha finished fifth in her heats, while Jyothi managed a fourth place. St. Vicent and Grenedine's Natasha Mayers was the fastest with a time of 11.33s, her season's best. Favourite Laura Turner of England clocked 11.50s.

Manjeet Kaur topped the fourth heat in women's 400m with a timing of 52.76s to qualify for the semifinals. However, that was nowhere near her National record of 51.05s. Mandeep Kaur also qualified for the semifinals. Botswana's Amantle Montsho was the fastest at 51.56s.

In the field events, Om Prakash and Saurav Vij both qualified for the shot put final. Om Prakash warmed up with a throw of 18.48m. Vij was disappointing, with a best effort of 17.16m. Canada's Dylon Armstrong had the best throw of the day at 20.01m.

In women's hammer throw, Hardeep Kaur qualified for final managing a 11th place, while Manju Bala finished 15th to miss out. Para-athlete Deepa Malik finished fourth in women's shot put. Australia's Louise Ellery won the gold.

Results: 5,000m: 1. Moses Kipsiro (Uganda) 13:31.25s, 2. Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) 13:31.32s, 3. Mark Kiptoo (Kenya) 13:32.58s.

Indians in action: Men: 100m: Abdul Najeeb Qureshi in semifinals; 5,000m: Sunil Kumar 14, Sandeep Batham 15; Shot put: Om Prakash, Sourav Vij in final. Women: 100m: S Geetha and HM Jyoti in semis; 400m: Manjit Kaur and Mandeep Kaur in semis; Hammer throw: Hardeep Kaur in final.

TOI

Barrier mishap at Village injures 3 foreigners

2010-10-06T20:53:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: In a major embarrassment for hosts India, a hi-tech device meant to secure the Games Village ended up seriously injuring three top officials from Uganda, including the chef de mission and the press attache. The car carrying the officials was entering the Village late Tuesday night when a tyre killer - a sharp-edged barrier that stays below the ground when authorized vehicles are being let in - rose suddenly and hit the vehicle.

The three occupants were thrown about inside their Tata Sumo Grande as it braked sharply and hit the barrier. Ugandan chef de mission William Tumwine, administrative officer Iren and press attache Juliet were rushed to G B Pant Hospital with injuries on the forehead and eyes. Tumwine and Iren underwent immediate eye surgeries. Curiously, no case has been registered by the police.

It's not clear whether the mishap was caused by human error or a device malfunction. Police sources maintain it was the latter. They said the incident was reported past midnight on Tuesday (12.30am Wednesday morning) when the tyre killer was incorrectly activated after the radio frequency reader failed to read the vehicle's sticker. The car had crossed the boom barrier and was approaching gate number 1 meant for athletes and team officials.

However, it's possible that a security personnel accidentally pressed the button to activate the tyre killer before the vehicle had gone past the device, which is located 200-300 metres from the boom barrier.

Confirming the incident, Dorah Kuteesa, minister counsellor, Uganda high commission, said, ''Our chef de mission and two other officials have got injured. Due to the impact, the chef de mission and Iren suffered injuries on the forehead and left eye. Both were operated last night. Iren has got as many as 20 stitches near her left eye and forehead.''

A team of doctors from Guru Nanak Eye centre - the designated eye hospital for the Games - was called in at 2am to carry out the surgeries. ''Iren had serious muscular injuries near her left eye and forehead. It's a big cut on the eyelid and left side of the face," said a hospital source.

TOI

Silver lining for India on Day 1 as Aussies begin to dominate

2010-10-04T20:47:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: A day after silencing a carping world with a spectacular opening ceremony, India kicked off its ambitious campaign to win 100 medals at this year's Commonwealth Games by bagging four - two silver and two bronze.

The first medal should have been a cause for celebration but the winner, Soniya Chanu, was inconsolable. Chanu, a favourite to win the women's 48kg weightlifting category, was upstaged by Nigerian schoolgirl Augustine Nwaololo and tearfully apologized. The bronze went to India's Sandhya Rani Atom.

Sukhen Dey gave India its other silver in the men's 56kg weightlifting category, with army man V Srinivas Rao taking bronze. Malaysia's Ibrahim Amirul won gold to add to the three he won in the 2002 Games.

India finished the day at No. 7 on the medals tally, some way off its declared objective of the second spot. But there are still plenty of days and events to go.

Meanwhile, the Australians picked up four of the eight golds on offer. Stephanie Rice may have stayed away, but Alicia Coutts and Kylie Palmer won early golds in the pool. The men's 4x100m freestyle relay team landed a third swimming gold, while the men won the artistic gymnastics team gold - the first time the Aussies have won this event at the Commonwealth Games.

TOI

Indian women draw with Scotland

2010-10-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: A draw isn't the best way to boost one's morale but silver medallists India had no choice but to settle for one after a diffident performance against Scotland in the opening Pool A women's hockey match on Monday.

Scotland had everything going for them in the first half in terms of ascendancy, ball possession and a lone goal but a quick resurgence after the breather saw India equalise via Jasjeet Kaur Handa.

An abortive penalty corner and scores of missed chances that the game was dotted with towards the final quarter only highlighted what India do best: the miss and rue rigmarole.

Holly Cram put Scotland ahead in the third minute with a close-range stunner that found the far corner even as goalkeeper Dipika Murthy stood clueless. Jasjeet's equaliser was equally impressive - perhaps the best move of the match - when she, put in possession by Ritu Rani, weaved past the defence before unleashing a backhander from the top of the circle.

"We were done in by a nervous start," said coach Sandeep Somesh. "We created chances in the second half but didn't score. I am disappointed with the result."

Results:

Pool A: India 1 (Jasjeet Kaur Handa 45th) drew with Scotland 1 (Holly Cram 3rd). South Africa 12 (Coetzee P 2nd, 10th, 26th, 63rd, Lesle-ann George 39th, Jennifer Wilson 42nd, 47th, Dirkie Chamberlain 43rd, 68th, 70th, Kathleen Taylor 44th, Farah Fredericks 62nd) bt T&T 0.

Pool B: Malaysia 3 (Norbaini Hashim 18th, 56th, Norfaraha Hashim 49th pc) bt Canada 2 ( Diana Roemer 56th, Anna Kozniuk 59th).

TOI

Oil Min announces rewards for Indian CWG medalists

2010-10-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

STAFF WRITER 16:58 HRS IST

New Delhi, Oct 3 (PTI) In a bid to boost India's chances at the Commonwealth Games, Oil Minister today announced cash awards for Indian medal winners.

Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), whose patron is Deora, will give Rs 10 lakh for every gold medalist, Rs 7.5 lakh for silver medalist and Rs 5 lakh for every bronze medalist, an official statement said here.

Describing the significance of the decision, Deora said that this will go a long way in promoting sports in the country. He expressed hope that the lead provided by the oil PSUs and PSPB will encourage youngsters to take sports as a career.

Games good foundation for Olympic bid by India: Rogge

2010-10-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge provided a late lift to Delhi Commonwealth Games when he dashed to the city to attend the opening ceremony. Amid his packed schedule, he found time for an exclusive interview with Boria Majumdar. Excerpts:

You've been a major supporter of India. What do you now think of Delhi? Are we ready for the Games?

I think everything will be fine. I mean, of course, you can only judge the organisation at the moment of the closing ceremony, but I think things are going well. The fundamentals are in place. We have very experienced and motivated people, so I think you will have a very good Games.

From what you've seen, do you think we have the potential to mount an Olympic bid?

That is something I can only give an opinion on if I see the full bid because there is still a difference between Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. The size of Olympics is bigger; there are more athletes, more sports. The organization is more complicated. If the Commonwealth Games are a success, which I believe they will be, that will be a very good foundation to think about a possible candidature for the traditional games. A successful Commonwealth Games will definitely make India proud. There's no doubt about that. It'll be a major achievement. It is something you can show to the rest of the world and say, 'We can organise a great event.' And I believe that will be the case. My message to India would be practice sport. Let the young people practice as many sports as possible. Because sport is education, sport is health, sport is joy. The most important people in the games are not the organizers or the spectators, they are the athletes who have trained so hard to get to peak condition. They all come with a lot of expectations so they must be happy. If at the end of the Games the athletes are happy, then that is really a success. There was a lot of criticism about India. All of us were very anxious whether this country has the potential and whether we'd be able to stage the show.

You were here in Pune for the Youth Games. And now you are here for the Delhi Games. From what you've seen, are you satisfied?

I think you've worked hard. Again, the final judgment can only be rendered at the closing ceremony. But I think its going to be a success because you've worked hard and the fundamentals seem to be in good shape. So I remain optimistic.

One of the major questions debated by the world was security. From the airport to the hotel, you have been around. Are you satisfied with the security preparation?

I don't know the security preparations in detail but from what I've seen, there's definitely good security. With a lot of discipline and very well applied. It's also kind, not oppressive or intrusive. And you know that these personnel are working for our security, so I feel very sympathetic to them. In India these games can really set the stage to have a sporting culture, and the Olympic movement can take off.

Are you really keen that the developing world actually gets into the frame of the Olympic movement like the way the west has done?

Yes, definitely. I think it would be fantastic if India could improve its sporting performance. You have great athletes and you have one overriding sport, which is cricket. But we need more gold medals from the second most populous country in the world. So I say India should and can and will make major progress in the Olympics.

TOI

Niue's 3% population is at CWG

2010-10-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: About three per cent of Niue's entire population is currently in New Delhi. All of them are staying at the Commonwealth Games Village. "We are a small country," island nation Niue's chef-de-mission Alan Tano Puleosi told TOI on Sunday. "And we are a sporting one too."

Situated in the South Pacific Ocean, this island of about 1200 inhabitants is not as small as it sounds. With an area of 269 sq km, it is bigger than all the 15 Cook Islands put together. It is the tiny fun-loving population that makes this island so interesting. Forty-three of them are here, which includes 37 athletes. It forms a substantial chunk of their colourful population.

"We play a lot of sport," Puleosi, who is the country's weightlifting association's president and a former rugby player, said.

"We will be competing in athletics, weightlifting, shooting, lawn bowls, wrestling and boxing," Puleosi said. He expects a medal from weightlifter Narita Viliamu, in the women's 75kg category. Young Narita was the silver medallist in the Mini Pacific Games, an achievement for the nation.

There are others too of course, like athletes Ponifasio Tahamaka and Suitulunga Tupuiliu, boxer Travis Tapatuetoa, shooters Sionebelle Togiavolu and San Juan Talagi, who look forward to taking back some pleasant memories. Niue is not a part of the International Olympic Committees family, therefore the Commonwealth Games is their biggest stage in the sporting arena.

Niue is a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand, which means the bigger and more powerful nation takes care of their defence and foreign affairs. It is something similar to the relationship between India and Bhutan.

11 NATIONS WHO COMPETE ONLY AT CWG

Isle of Man
British Crown Dependency
Population: 85,000
CWG star: Mark Cavendish, cyclist

Jersey
British Crown Dependency
Population: 91,000

St. Helena
British Overseas Territory
Population: 4,000

Montserrat
British Overseas Territory
Population: 5,000

Turks & Caicos
British Overseas Territory
Population: 36,000

Anguilla
British Overseas Territory
Population: 14,000

Guernsey
British Crown Territory
Population: 65,000

Gibraltar
British Overseas Territory
Population: 30,000

Falkland Islands
British Overseas Territory
Population: 4,000

Norfolk Islands
Self governing territory (Australia connection)
Population: 2,500

Niue
Associated state (NZ connection)
Population: 2,000

TOI

Paul lauds India for fantastic CWG opening ceremony

2010-10-03T20:41:00.001-07:00

LONDON: NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul on Sunday congratulated India and its people to make the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi a huge success and said critics would now realise India is able to meet its international commitment.

Commenting after witnessing the fabulous opening, Lord Paul said, "Congratulations to India and the Indian people, specially all those who have worked very hard to achieve what they have done.

"All of us, I am personally proud of India and its people. I hope critics in future would realise India does things in its own style and timing and they should not judge India from their way of thinking but India is able to meet its international commitment. It is great pride to be of Indian-origin."

Lord Paul, Britain's Ambassador for overseas business, said Mrs Sheila Dikshit, the Delhi chief minister deserved special qudos.

"Congratulations specially to Mrs Dikshit whom I have always known as a person of great commitment. I genuinely feel she has done a fabulous job."

TOI

Delhi CWG will be experience of a lifetime: Prince Charles

2010-10-03T20:39:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Prince Charles said on Sunday that the Delhi Commonwealth Games will be an "experience of a lifetime" as he inaugurated the 19th edition of the international sporting event.

"I send my best wishes (for the Games) which I am sure will be an experience of a lifetime. Madam president and distinguished guests, I declare the 19th Commonwealth Games open," Charles said.

After recieving the Queen's baton from India's world wrestling champion Sushil Kumar, Charles said he was very "pleased" to represent her at the "splendid" opening ceremony.

As Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was bathed in a riot of colours, the prince read out the Queen's message, recalling that the baton had been handed over just a year ago at London's Buckingham Palace and was carried through relay runners through all the countries and territories of the Commonwealth.

"It is particularly fitting that the 2010 Commonwealth Games are being held in India," he said, quoting the Queen.

"When countries can compete in sports like this, it serves as an inspiration for all nation to work for peace around the world," he said.

TOI

President, Prince Charles declare CWG open

2010-10-03T20:38:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: The 19th Commonwealth Games was on Sunday jointly declared open by Prince Charles and President of India Pratibha Patil in a diplomatic compromise that was worked out much before the inauguration.

Officially the Queen, the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth, declares the Games open. But the monarch's decision not to attend the ceremony for the first time in 44 years led to a diplomatic arrangement between the British officials and the Indian authorities.

Under the compromise it was decided that both Charles and President Patil would jointly declare the Games open.

In a spectacular opening ceremony, after the Queen's baton was handed over by Beijing Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar to Charles, the Prince of Wales read out the Queen's message but it was President Patil who had the last word, saying, "Let the Games begin".

"My wife and I are pleased to be able to join you here in Delhi, where I have been asked by Her Majesty the Queen to be here at the start of the 19th Commonwealth Games," Prince Charles said in his message.

"It is fitting that these Games are being held in India. I firmly believe that when countries can compete in sports together like this, it helps all nations to search together for peace throughout the world.

"To everyone, I send my very best wishes for what I hope will be the experience of a lifetime. I have much pleasure in declaring the 19th Commonwealth Games open," it said.

President Patil then delivered her speech in which she said now that the Games are open, let them begin.

"Sports has always been a powerful bridge among different cultures and at the Commonwealth Games we shall see that coming true once again. We will see the power of sports bond together with commonality.

"In the next 11 days we will see thousands of athletes engaging in various sports competitions and witness the unfolding of variety of emotions. We shall see human endeavour at its very best," she said.

"We wish the athletes the very best in their dedicated pursuit of excellence. I am sure everyone will cherish the Games. To my fellow Indians, let's showcase our legendary hospitality while we celebrate sport in our country.

"The Games are now open, let the Games begin," she said.

TOI

Finally, Delhi dazzles at CWG opening ceremony

2010-10-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: In the end, it turned out like a perfect Indian wedding. Shrugging off all the heartburns, last-minute snafus and accompanying chaos, everything fell into place; and it left both the baraatis and the dulhanwaalahs, with huge smiles on their faces.

The next few days will tell us if the honeymoon too, if not the marriage itself, will be as successful.

A festive crowd of almost 60,000 packed the stadium and lustily cheered through the ceremony. They cheered former President A P J Abdul Kalam (who got the biggest hand), UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and other luminaries. They cheered the performers. They gave a standing ovation to the Indian contingent. And, in a truly moving moment that warmed the hearts of even the most cynical, they reserved the second-biggest round of applause for the Pakistani contingent.

The only break in the bonhomie came when Organizing Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi was jeered as he began his speech. But the joy of the occasion took over, with Kalmadi concluding to cheers, though he referred to Kalam as Abdul Kalam Azad.

In three spellbinding hours, light, colour and technology merged to present a well-conceived and immaculate show. Yet, in the same space, India managed to showcase its rich history, culture and higher learning to the entire world.

Two complaints: It would have been nice to have had a greater Bollywood presence. The most popular symbol of Indian contemporary culture was clearly inadequately represented. And we could have done with fewer long-winded speeches.

On the positive side, the Nehru Stadium looked like a bride through the evening. It dazzled like a diamond, showing off its rubies and sapphires or emeralds and pearls intermittently. Up above, the aerostat hovered proudly like a giant spaceship, spewing colours and designs that would easily be at home in some other planet too.

The theme of the show was quite evidently, unity in diversity. It couldn't have been more appropriate, coming just a few days after the country peacefully accepted a court verdict on one of its bitterest disputes.

On Sunday night, the show-setters at the JN Stadium, almost prophetically, encapsulated the country's amazing commonality, lying just under the surface, by picking its most variegated strands and nuances and stitching them together into a single fabric.

Not surprisingly, the ceremony started with the segment called Rhythms of India: ingeniously though, it didn't assemble the entire array of sounds at the country's disposal. It simply brought together a family which has probably never met as one, and never will again: the drummers of India.

Expectedly, they were different in every aspect, right from the way they are played to the way they sound. Different timbres and different textures that make it virtually impossible to integrate into a symphony. Yet, here at the CWG, that's precisely what happened as they entwined into one powerful entity.

Dhols, dholaks and drums from 10 corners of the nation reverberated in the stadium, rising to a crescendo to capture the heartbeat of India.

Even before the buzz could dissipate, Hariharan sang Swagatam as a thousand students from Delhi's schools celebrated. Next, it was time to invite the athletes from 71 countries. As they marched in, the drums rolled and the lights twinkled. Australia, England, South Africa were given warm welcomes; but the loudest round was reserved for the Pakistani contingent, greeted like long-lost brothers.

Pretty soon, it was time for the real show-stoppers: India. It was back to ground reality, though, the very next instant. As Suresh Kalmadi was invited to give the welcome address, boos hissed out of angry hearts. Kalmadi, to his credit, braved through the moment and, vacillating between crinkled brows and tight smiles, carried out his job.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and CWG chairman Mike Fennell too were given their two minutes before, first, Prince Charles and then President Pratibha Patil declared the Games open.

Then, it was time to bring India together once again. They found it in the Tree of Knowledge, one of India's most alluring qualities through the ages.

As sheets descended from the spaceship and met the ground below, it transformed into a gigantic tree, reminiscent of the marvel in Cameron's Avatar.

Out of it emerged the various dance exponents of the country. Yet, once again, they managed to find a meeting point, doing bharatanatyam, kuchipidi, Manipuri to just one beat. Each choreographed by the master of their art, they blended into each other sweetly without losing their own purity and character too.

India's biggest contribution to the world, no doubt, is it's spirituality. In the segment called Yoga, its 5,000 years of learning was presented by school children even as mantras and sacred shlokas cast everybody in their trance-like spell.

The sombre mood, however, was promptly broken by the arrival of the Great Indian Journey, choreographed by Bansi Kaul. Heralded by the lilting number 'Chaiyya, Chaiyya,' the biggest unifier of the country for years, Indian Railways, won everybody's hearts. Accompanied by folk dancers from the heart of India, a million vignettes gave us a glimpse of our hinterland: doodhwalas, politicians in their ubiquitous Ambassadors, magicians, tongas.

The finale was reserved for India's one true international celebrity: A R Rahman. As the magician belted out the CWG theme song, the aerostat came alive in a bluster of colour and graphics. Fireworks shot out furiously, signalling that it was time for the spaceship to go. It was time for Jai Ho!

TOI

England's Willstrop & Matthew aim to squash al

2010-09-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Walking about in the Games Village, you could be forgiven for not recognizing James Willstrop. With his straw-coloured hair messily tucked behind his ear and a ready smile and warm handshake for everyone, Willstrop doesn't possess the air of someone who's regarded as one of the best squash players ever to come out of England.

At six feet and 4 inches, he doesn't even fit the bill of a squash player but then the magic of Willstrop is in what he manages to do on the squash court.

For England's best-ever junior player, it didn't take long for Willstrop to graduate. He soon became the second-best player in the world but an ankle injury and subsequent surgery in 2009 meant that the part-time singer and guitarist Willstrop has spent the last 18 months recovering lost ground.

In February earlier this year at the Swedish Open, he became the only player to defeat the current world No. 1 and two former - Ramy Ashour, Karim Darwish and Amr Shabana - in successive rounds at the same tournament.

Along with Nick Matthew, the world No. 2, England, possibly, have the strongest squash team and would be disappointed with anything other than gold at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

It would've been an easy and understandable decision for Willstrop and Matthew to skip the Commonwealth Games. If the
threat of a terror attack wasn't enough to scare some athletes away, the horror stories about the seemingly deplorable conditions in the Games Village were.

Willstrop finds the idea of skipping an event like Commonwealth Games incredulous.

"Terrorism is not a problem peculiar to India. The threat levels in New Delhi are the same as in London. I was a bit surprised at the kneejerk reaction of some players who chose to stay back," Willstrop told TOI.

Unassuming and every bit as friendly as his teammate, Matthew, who lost the world No. 1 ranking to Ramy Ashour just a few months ago, is gung-ho about Delhi 2010.

"We're used to India. Everything will be fine eventually. We've spent a couple of days here and it's been so far so good. Irrespective of what we had read, we haven't heard one word of negativity within the team since we arrived," he adds.

A mixed doubles silver medalist at Melbourne in 2006, Willstrop admits that though everything is not how it should be, the arrangements are still very good. "Some things aren't as good as the others but the facilities are very good. The Commonwealth Games for us is one of the biggest events. We've spent the past one year preparing for this. A few problems weren't going to keep me away," he says.

The argument that the Commonwealth Games, a legacy of the colonial past, is a concept past its sell-by date and it finds no favour with either Willstrop or Matthew. "These games really matter to us, to me. I list my silver from Melbourne as one of my achievements. I completely loved it in Melbourne," Willstrop remarks.

Matthew is enjoying the best form of his life. A shoulder surgery in 2008 was a period of darkness for the Sheffield-resident but his comeback since saw him take the number one rank. "My shoulder surgery in 2008 made me reassess my life and priorities. It was the hardest time for me but it also gave me a new perspective. CWG for us is still an important event. I came fourth in Melbourne and that hurt. Winning gold is the aim here. This matters, a lot," he asserts.

TOI

New Zealand tennis player Barry pulls out of CWG

2010-09-30T21:01:00.002-07:00

WELLINGTON: New Zealand tennis player Ellen Barry has pulled out of the troubled Delhi Commonwealth Games citing health and safety concerns, local media reported on Friday.

The 21-year-old had been scheduled to play doubles with Marina Erakovic at the Oct. 3-14 Games, but she said her "gut instinct" had told her to withdraw.

"I was just concerned for my health and safety. I know a lot of athletes will be going, but for me it felt like the right decision," Barry told reporters in Christchurch.

"Up until the day before yesterday I was still weighing it up ... it was very difficult to come to a decision, but I just wanted to go with what my gut feeling was.

"That was, that it's the right thing for me to come home."

Barry becomes the second New Zealand athlete to pull out citing security concerns in the Games' lead-up which has been plagued by infrastructure failures, a dengue fever outbreak and constant fears about athletes' security.

Team Sky cyclist Greg Henderson pulled out last week saying there were "too many risks".

New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie said the two were the only ones from "190-odd (New Zealand) athletes" to pull out over security concerns but conceded more could follow.

"I don't know but I guess there is also the possibility that others, while they are here, might decide they want to go home," Currie said.

"We've had athletes in here for 36 hours and I've had no sense of that yet. But if it was the case and somebody said 'look, Dave, I don't feel safe', then we would facilitate them going home."

TOI

Volunteers too find novel ways to loot

2010-09-30T21:01:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: If corruption has been the byword leading up to the Commonwealth Games, can the volunteers be far behind? Apart from the high rate of attrition affecting the volunteers programme at the Commonwealth Games, there are also multiple instances of people taking undue advantage of the situation. The common notion among volunteers is, if the officials are corrupt, why should they have any qualms fleecing the state's resources?

One such person, who 'benefited' from a scam, boasted how he hustled away with surplus kit. "I had applied for the volunteer programme but I wasn't too serious about it. I thought that I would take the kit and then decide. Then I was approached by certain individuals who asked me whether I intended to pursue it, and I showed my reluctance," he told TOI.

"They struck a deal with me, offering to delete the data (that I had already received the kit) and asked me to come back another day and collect it again. He said that we would split the extra kit, and I was all for it. Why should I feel guilty? The Commonwealth Games is all about corruption," he added.

There you have it, straight from the horse's mouth.

TOI

CWG opening ceremony to showcase India's culture

2010-09-30T20:59:00.002-07:00

NEW DELHI: It's going to be a Spectacular Sunday.

As the curtain finally creaks up on the Commonwealth Games, the world will get a glimpse of India's great heritage and tradition during an elaborate but closely guarded opening ceremony, featuring light, music and dance.

TOI managed to steal a sneak preview of the sounds, colours and action that will mesmerise over 60,000 spectators, including President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Prince Charles at the Nehru Stadium.

On the agenda is a three-hour long show highlighting the rhythms and ragas of the nation and performed by over 7,000 artistes drawn from across the country.

"The whole ceremony is divided into seven segments. It will be a dazzling show," informed sources, who are part of the rehearsals, which began at the venue on September 20, said.

The segments - Rhythm of India (ROI), Great Indian Journey (GIJ), Celebration, Yoga, Swagatam, Rajasthan Puppets and The Knowledge Tree - promise to bring the arena alive and make it a mesmerising evening for one and all, including lakhs of television viewers. The acclaimed artistes, incidentally, have been preparing for the show in the high security Cantonment area, oblivious to the controversies plaguing the show.

ROI, an 18-20 minute show, will take the stadium decibels to a new, incredible range, with nearly 1000 drummers reaching a steady crescendo. The segment will showcase traditional drums from Ladakh, Punjab (dhol), Kerala (chenda), Manipur (pung cholom), Meghalaya (wangla), Andhra Pradesh (koya) and Karnataka (dhollu kunitha).

The GIJ is a more than half-an-hour long train journey through the heart of India , which will capture life in the hinterland through bazaars, blacksmiths, milkmen , street circus, street vendors et al. "It is an impressive show which will bring alive the life in our villages," sources revealed.

The part titled Celebrations will also run for around 30 minutes and will transform the entire stadium into a dance floor. On stage will be several hundreds of exponents of the classical arts, including the flower dancers of Ladakh from up north to Mohiniyattam from down south.

The yoga, the physical and mental discipline that originated in India, will be another item which will be performed by around 2,000 students from various schools and colleges of the Capital.

The welcome song, Swagatam , which will run for around 10 minutes, will be rendered by a group of 1000-plus students while 'Welcome' will come alive on the giant screen in all languages.

Another highlight of the show will be the puppets from Rajasthan. The giant string puppets, made out of teracotta , measuring 15-20 feet dressed in vibrant colours and costumes of the desert state, will hang from the Aerostat and will be controlled by a group of trained persons.

"This show will be done in such a way that spectators sitting in the top-most tier will be able to get up close with the puppets," sources added. The highly secretive buildup to the opening ceremony has increased the curiosity quotient among the people.

THE 7 WONDERS

Swagatam (The welcome song presented by thousands of school kids running almost 10 minutes)

Rhythm of India (listen to nearly 500 drums from all over the country: 20 mins)

Great Indian Journey (explore India travelling in the CWG rath: 30 mins)

Yoga (get a feel of all the yogic poses: 20 mins)

Puppets from Rajasthan (the highlight of the show)

Celebrations (Enjoy the rich tradition of Indian dances in a 30-minute capsule)

The Knowledge Tree (Learn about the vedas and Indian classical music)

TOI

Federation chief must share blame, says NZ minister

2010-09-30T20:59:00.001-07:00

WELLINGTON: Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper must shoulder some blame for the chaos that plagued the Delhi Games lead-up, his New Zealand compatriot Sports Minister Murray McCully said on Friday.

Hooper has pinned blame on Indian organisers for the problems that left the Games teetering on the brink of collapse last week, prompting protestors in Delhi Thursday to accuse him of racism and burn an effigy of the administrator.

But McCully said the federation had serious questions to answer, including Hooper, the organisation's chief executive officer who lived in India in the years preceding the Games to monitor progress.

"We should be careful about simply asserting that Indian officials carry all responsibility," McCully told the New Zealand Herald.

"He (Hooper) has been based there to oversee these arrangements. I certainly think there's going to be a sharing of responsibility, but this is not the time.

"Let's leave them to do their jobs and leave the serious questions for afterwards -- but they need to be asked."

Earlier this week, Hooper said that while the federation had pushed for deadlines to be met, it did not have the power to ensure projects were completed on time.

"At the end of the day, I'm not a construction engineer. I'm not a builder," he told Television New Zealand.

"We're at the hands and the mercy of, effectively, the government of India, the Delhi government, the agencies responsible for delivery of the venues."

New Zealand was one of the most vocal critics of squalid accommodation in the athlete's village but McCully said the criticism had been necessary to get the Games back on track, even if it was embarassing for India.

"I've got no doubt there were some raw nerves touched but serious issues of safety and welfare were arising," he said.

McCully's comments came as New Zealand tennis player Ellen Barry said she was withdrawing from the Games because of security concerns.

"It was a really difficult decision, I thought about it for a long time," Barry told reporters. "I was just concerned for my health and safety. I know a lot of athletes will be going, but for me it felt like the right decision."

She is the second New Zealand athlete to pull out after cyclist Greg Henderson said last week that he would not travel to Delhi.

TOI

After Olympics, Kipruto eyes CWG medal

2010-09-28T21:06:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Kenya's 3000m steeplechase champion Brimin Kipruto starts as the favourite in his event at the Commonwealth Games. Yet, the Beijing Games gold medallist knows it won't be an easy race given the tough competition. In a chat with TOI, Kipruto talked about his expectations from the Delhi Games and looked forward to the London Olympics in 2012. Excerpts...

You have won almost everything that is there to be won. What else are you aiming at?

It is a good feeling to have won so many international medals, but then I have never won the Commonwealth Games. I would really want to win that title.

What are the chances of winning one at New Delhi?

This year I ran a new personal best and I am in good form. That is a good sign ahead. I hope I will be able to do well.

After the Beijing Olympics, there was a dip in your form. Why was that?

I am very proud to be Olympic Champion in 2008. It was indeed a great effort, and it gave me immense pleasure. Maybe 2009 was not my best year. I wasn't getting the type of timing that I would have liked. But this year I am better than ever and have run some pretty good races.

Do you plan to compete in events other than the 3000m steeplechase?

No. Right now, I will focus only on the steeplechase. That is my main event and I think I'll be able to get some results.

In the Commonwealth Games, who will be your main competitors?

The Kenyan team will be strong as there are quite a few good runners. The team from Uganda is also quite strong and its runners can pose a good challenge.

Have you found out about the conditions in Delhi in October?

The Indian authorities have been working hard to provide the best of conditions. I am confident that they will organise the Games as well as possible. A lot of effort has been put into it and I am not really worried about the conditions.

What are your expectations from the London Olympics?

It will be a tough race as the best competitors will be there to win medals. It won't be easy, but I hope to defend my Olympic title.

After Beijing, you'll be expected to do well in London. How will you cope up with the pressure?

I have medals from the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005, World Championships in Osaka 2007, and Olympics in Beijing 2008. So I know what it is to perform and achieve under pressure. I think I will be up to it.

TOI

Injured Semenya deals new body-blow to Delhi CWG

2010-09-28T21:05:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: World 800m champion Caster Semenya pulled out of the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday because of a back injury, dealing another devastating setback to the troubled event, which starts on Sunday.

Team South Africa's Chief Medical Officer Shuaib Manjra said that Semenya underwent medical tests in Johannesburg on Tuesday and scans confirmed a back injury.

"Semenya also confirmed that she had been suffering serious lower back pain and had not been comfortable during her last few races," said a statement by the South Africa Olympic Committee (SASCOC).

Manjra told reporters the athlete's well-being and health were priorities and while her absence robbed South Africa of a potential gold medallist, he did not want to risk serious injury with the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics fast approaching.

"It would serve no purpose to have an athlete in Delhi who was struggling with any sort of injury that would compromise performance," said Majra.

"It is our medical view that physically and emotionally she would not be capable of doing justice to her talent at an event of this magnitude."

The 19-year-old Semenya was added to the South Africa squad for the Games in August, one month after the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ended a controversial probe into her gender that saw her sidelined for almost 11 months.

Semenya had impressed since her return, improving steadily over the course of several warm-up competitions leading up to the Delhi Games, and broke the 1:59 mark in the 800m on September 7 in Milan.

Semenya shot to fame when she lowered her personal best in the 800m by more than four seconds at the 2009 African Junior Championships.

But the victory raised questions about her muscular physique and deep voice, stoking speculation about her gender.

Scandal erupted weeks later after she dominated the field and cruised to gold at the World Championships in Berlin.

Following the event, the IAAF banned Semenya from competition and required her to submit to sex testing, igniting a political and popular uproar in South Africa.

Almost a year later, the runner was reinstated following exhaustive negotiations between medical teams of the IAAF and her own team, which were presided over by a mediator.

Terms of the agreement have remained confidential.

Meanwhile, Majra added that no final decision had been made in relation to South Africa's long jump specialist Khotso Mokoena and men's 800m world champion Mbualeni Mulaudzi, whose participation is also in doubt.

"We are awaiting the result of an MRI scan conducted on Mulaudzi on Tuesday and we have to assess Khotso's readiness in competing at a tournament post recovery from an injury."

TOI

CWG stadium sting dishonest'

2010-09-28T20:56:00.001-07:00

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Popular Australian TV channel ABC claimed that the alleged sting operation by another Channel Seven on alleged security lapse at the Commonwealth Games was 'ridiculous and dishonest', but the latter has threatened to sue them.

ABC's Media Watch Monday night highlighted loopholes in Seven News reporter Mike Duffy's report, which received worldwide coverage on the lack of security for the Commonwealth Games.

The channel said that when the 'filming was done, full Games security was not yet in operation' and said the 'entire stunt ridiculous and dishonest'.

Media Watch host Paul Barry alleged that Duffy's suitcase was empty anyway when he walked into the stadium area and indicated that the reporter manipulated the whole episode, ABC claimed in its report.

The channel Seven crew had conducted a sting operation that was broadcast last week. They had claimed that they were able to walk in carrying a large trolley suitcase having explosives capable of triggering up to 200 explosions if fitted with a detonator.

The news crew said they were easily able to obtain a detonator and ammonium nitrate from the capital, adding to a slew of allegations that preparations for the mega event had not been up to the mark.

Soon after ABC report, Seven Network reporter Mike Duffy said he was 'suing ABC TV's Media Watch for defamation' and are 'retaining the nation's top lawyer in the field, Mark O'Brien'.

The Delhi Police had also called the sting operation motivated. 'It was deliberately planted as the reporter does not even know that ammonium nitrate is a fertilizer and a non-prohibited item for sale in India.'

'There is no lock down in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium security as yet. Security will be bolstered with additional deployment after the complete lock down and substantially more during Games time,' the police had said.

Air India offers special schemes, flights for CWG

2010-09-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

STAFF WRITER 14:46 HRS IST

Mumbai, Sep 27 (PTI) In a bid to cash-in on the extra traffic expected during the Commonwealth Games, state-run Air India has offered two special schemes to its passengers flying out of Delhi.

Besides, the national air-carrier would operate two special flights from Auckland and Brisbane to Delhi.

Air India is the official airline partner for the mega sporting event starting in Delhi from October 3.

A passenger can avail of these two short-term promotional schemes between October 1 and November 14, Air India said in a press release here.

Under the scheme 'Lucky 7', any individual travelling seven times on Air India domestic/international network in economy class from Delhi during the validity period will be eligible for an economy-class return ticket (two coupons) to any destination on the Air India domestic network from Delhi.

Who'll open the Games? Charles or Prez Patil?

2010-09-27T20:45:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI/LONDON: The Empire and the former colony have locked horns over who will open the Delhi Commonwealth Games - Prince Charles or President Pratibha Patil. And from the looks of it, it seems the Empire may win this one.

The simmering difference on the issue - reported first by TOI on September 14 - has now taken the proportions of a full-blown battle with New Delhi maintaining that Prince Charles doesn't represent the Commonwealth. With the Queen not coming, the honour of opening the Games should go to the Indian Republic's Prez Patil.

However, a prior agreement seems to be tilting the scales in the Empire's favour, or at least ensuring a favourable compromise.

The agreement signed between the OC and CGF says the Games will be declared open by the Queen or her representative. The Queen's message contained in the baton that will be read out on October 3 ends with her statement, "I declare the Games open." It is to be read out by Prince Charles on her behalf.

Prince Charles is likely to declare the Games open while a face-saving arrangement may be made for President Pratibha Patil.

Though Indian officials have been pressing for Patil to inaugurate the Games, sources said it would be difficult to rearrange the script even though talks are on at the "highest levels."

What is now being considered is that once Prince Charles has read out the Queen's message, President Patil will deliver the final speech of the opening ceremony and state that she was "happy that the Games have been opened", or words to this effect.

It's clear that Prince Charles will speak before the President and once he has said that the Games are open, there may not be much point in Patil repeating this. The halfway house would allow the British monarch to maintain its traditions while the President of the Indian Republic will be given due respect and status.

It is being pointed out that the government should have carefully considered the text of the OC-CWG federation pact as well as the monarchy's emphasis on tradition, even if the Queen was too busy with her engagements to make it to her former colony.

While the last word may not have been heard, given the Indian insistence that Prince Charles is not head of the Commonwealth and could not be equated with his mother, legal and traditional considerations can only be sidelined if Buckingham Palace agrees to a rearrangement of the script.

As of now, both Buckingham Palace and Clarence House, Prince Charles' official residence, maintain that the latter would declare the Games open when he reads out the message from Queen Elizabeth II, the head of Commonwealth. Clarence House has stated that Prince Charles would read out the last line and declare the Games open.

A spokeswoman for Clarence House told British media, "The Queen has asked the Prince to represent her in Delhi, and carry out the same duties she would perform if she was there. He will officially declare the Games open."

The British opinion is that it is the prerogative of the Queen to inaugurate the Games as it's one of the privileges that she, as head of the Commonwealth, enjoys.

TOI was the first to report the row over who gets to open the Games and that the issue had arisen particularly as this is the first occasion that she would not be attending or opening the Commonwealth Games.

TOI

Beggars mostly gone from New Delhi during CWG

2010-09-27T20:44:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: The banners were erected at the little hillside enclave while everyone was at work, long blue and purple signs with a smiling cartoon tiger proclaiming the arrival of the Commonwealth Games.

By nightfall, the enclave was nowhere to be seen. The plastic-roofed shanties that are home to more than 200 people - laborers who have spent the last year fixing up the city's roads for the games - had disappeared behind the smiling tiger.

While poverty remains one of India's most intractable and enduring problems, officials don't want it to be what visitors to the games remember. Many of this city's beggars have been arrested or forced from the streets, migrants have been rousted, and thousands of homes hidden from sight.

New Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the equivalent of mayor, denied the hundreds of banners put up around the city in recent days had anything to do with disguising poverty.

"It's to give the city a festive look," she told reporters on Monday.

But the message was clear to Chaitran Rahu, one of the migrant laborers whose home was hidden last week by the 10-foot (3-meter) banners, which are made of thick plastic and mounted on metal and bamboo frames.

"They know that we're laborers and we're dirty, and they don't want anyone to see us from the road," he said, growing increasingly angry as he spoke.

He shovels tar on a road gang for a subcontractor and makes about $2.75 a day. If that seems to be miserable pay, it puts him well ahead of more than 800 million Indians who, according to World Bank estimates, survive on less than $2 a day.

The Commonwealth Games - an Olympic-style competition held every four years - bring together nearly 7,000 athletes and officials from 71 countries and territories. India wanted the games, which open on Sunday, to help showcase its emergence as a growing economic power and help it shed its old cliches of poverty and illiteracy.

Instead, its image has been battered by its chaotic last-minute efforts to get ready for an event it was supposed to begin preparing for in 2003.

In recent weeks, organizers faced criticism over the filthy and unfinished state of the athletes' village, questionable construction, security fears and worries over diseases such as dengue fever. Over the weekend, a snake turned up in the room of a South African competitor and a 4-foot (1-meter) cobra was reportedly found at the tennis stadium.

The village was supposed to be ready last week, but many teams have delayed moving in because cleaning and repairs have not been finished.

"We inherited a very difficult situation, but it's improving almost by the hour," Dikshit said on Monday. "We are racing against time, no doubt about it, but we will perform."

Some of the buildings had leaks in them, there was still water in some basements and some elevators were not working, Dikshit said. But team officials and athletes said conditions in the village had improved dramatically.

Pakistan Olympic Association chief Arif Hasan complained that his team's rooms were "not fit enough to live in" and gave organizers 24 hours to improve conditions or its athletes will stay in a hotel.

As for poverty, officials seem to want no one to see it at all. Officials launched a drive against beggars, slum neighborhoods and the homeless earlier this year, demolishing thousands of slum homes and arresting or displacing thousands of people. Human rights groups complained, and the courts finally stepped in to stop them.

"You cannot just take bulldozers anywhere and demolish anyone's house in the name of the Commonwealth Games," a New Delhi court said after city officials tore down a series of homeless shelters and shantytowns. "We think you want to show the foreigners coming for the Commonwealth Games that there are no poor people in India."

New Delhi, of course, is not the first city to try to hide its rougher edges. The Chinese government tore down and rebuilt large parts of Beijing in the years before the 2008 Olympics, demolishing entire blocks of housing and displacing thousands of people.

But Indian officials like to point out that they govern the world's most populous democracy - unlike China, its main regional competitor for economic power - and that the needs of ordinary people need to be taken into account.

"The government is just trying to hide its ineptitude," said a homeless man named Ilyas, a civil servant who recounted how he had moved to New Delhi a month ago after a bitter family feud and a battle with depression. He had been living on the streets, near a mosque where free food is distributed. But now he's hiding in a city park and sleeping in the bushes. "The police tell us to get off the streets, so we come back here," he said.

P Sainath, an Indian journalist who often writes about India's growing economic divide, said he was not surprised by the government's actions.

"All this captures the elite of India very well," he said, referring to the government's proud recitations of its booming economic growth and increasing consumer culture. "India is not really about 'Slumdog Millionaire.' It's about slumdogs versus millionaires, and that's what you're seeing in Delhi now."

On a New Delhi street corner on Monday, some things continued as they have for years.

New Delhi is believed to have about 60,000 beggars, many of them handicapped. Nearly all are from India's poor northern states.

If begging is ubiquitous in many parts of the city, it remains officially illegal. The least lucky beggars are convicted in special courts and then trucked out of town to rundown facilities that are often little better than prisons.

While most beggars have been chased off the streets recently, two young girls were working cars stopped at a traffic light near the city center. One was performing second-rate gymnastics while the other held out a bowl for donations.

The older one, who was about 13 and who identified herself only as Seema, said they regularly had to dodge the authorities these days.

"The police say the Olympics are coming, and we have to stay away and come back in one month," she said.

TOI

England lower sights for Commonwealth campaign

2010-09-27T20:43:00.001-07:00

LONDON: England will be battling to hold on to second place in the medals table when they head to the Commonwealth Games missing a clutch of top names regarded as certainties to strike gold.

England have finished runners-up in the medal rankings at the last three games, but are bracing for a stern challenge from Canada and hosts India at this year's multi-sport extravaganza in Delhi.

While the English will travel with one of their largest ever teams -- 371 competitors spread across 17 sports -- the English contingent will be weakened by several notable absentees.

Heading the list of athletes missing in action is World and European hepathlon champion Jessica Ennis, who is skipping the event to avoid disruption of her winter training schedule.

The 24-year-old is joined on the missing list by distance Mo Farah, the reigning 5,000 and 10,000 metres European champion, who has withdrawn citing fatigue after a gruelling season, and cyclist Victoria Pendleton.

While a clutch of Olympic and world champions will be in Delhi, including Rebecca Adlington, Gemma Spofforth (swimming), and Tom Daley (diving), team officials are declining to set a medals target.

England chef de mission Craig Hunter has warned the team face a testing fortnight in India.

"This will be a very challenging Games for us," said Hunter, who has identified India and Canada as the likeliest threats to English hopes of finishing second in the medal table once more.

"Certainly, India will be very strong in a number of events that proffer gold medals and have a home-based advantage.

"Canada is a nation we've always fought second and third spot for. They're looking like they're investing a lot of money and effort into their sport.

Despite the cautious tone over their prospects in Delhi, English officials are planning an all-out assault on the 2014 Games to be held in Glasgow.

"Our aspiration for 2014 is to top the medal table in Glasgow," said Hunter, who has expressed sympathy with track and field athletes such as Ennis who have chosen not to compete in India.

"For track and field, it's been a long season, and there are other clashes on the international programme," he said.

"They have to prioritise and, while this is an amazingly important event, it is also the road into London for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 - a unique opportunity for our athletes.

"We recognise that there are pulls on people's time and perhaps some of them decided that this isn't appropriate for their preparation."

In team sports, England's women hockey players will be looking to build on their strong showings at the World Cup and Champions Trophy earlier this year, when they both struck bronze.

Although they face stiff competition from defending champions Australia, South Africa and India, the English women have avoided their rivals in the group stage and will be confident of reaching the gold medal match.

"We believe. We've not had that much belief before - it takes results to give you that. It's been building and now we're going into the Commonwealth Games with that belief," captain Kate Walsh said.

TOI

Dope dilemma: Can athletes take part in Games?

2010-09-27T20:42:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: The disciplinary panel of the National Anti-Doping Agency dwelt extensively on the technicalities of dope violation on Monday even as lawyers of the athletes who tested positive for banned stimulant methylhexaneamine (MHA) claimed they could take part in the Commonwealth Games in the absence of a provisional suspension.

The athletes were upbeat at the end of the day's proceedings but the federations were not amused, with the Wrestling Federation of India outrightly refusing any change in the squad while the Swimming Federation of India contended that 'it was a complicated task'.

The three-member panel debated on basic issues surrounding MHA with two of them concurring that the tests conducted by NADA during the CWG selection trials were indeed in-competition tests, NADA director general Rahul Bhatnagar said.

Former national badminton champion Dinesh Khanna and doctor NK Khadiya said that "the sample collection process which takes place 12 hours before a competition in which the athlete is scheduled to participate through the end of such competition is 'in competition' testing. We can't agree with the argument that 'competition' only means the final race, match, game or singular athletic event."

With MHA being banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency in competition - its abuse being considered as a violation only when the samples are collected during a tournament - both Khanna and Khadiya argued against the lawyers' contention that trials do not constitute in competition. Had the lawyers won the day, the four wrestlers who were originally in the CWG squad, would have been exonerated.

The majority view of the panel prevailed even as its chairman, retired additional district judge Dinesh Dayal, held that the tests were not in-competition as they were not held during specific event.

Meanwhile, the athletes' lawyers maintained that the seven dope tainted athletes who were part of the CWG squads - Rajiv Tomar, Mausam Khatri, Sumit, Gursharanpreet Kaur (wrestling), Richa Mishra and Jyotsna Pansare (swimming) and Saurabh Vij (athletics), were eligible to take part in the Games if their federations took them back.

The decision met with mixed response from the federations. Wrestling Federation of India president GS Mander said the four wrestlers would be not be included in the team as the WFI had already announced replacements immediately after the dope results came out early this month. "It is not legally and practically possible. If we include them now, it would be unfair to those wrestlers who were picked in their place," he said.

A visibly upset Tomar said he would meet the federation officials on Tuesday and is still hopeful of taking part in the Commonwealth Games. Meanwhile, Swimming Federation of India said it will call a meeting of its selection committee in the next two days to decide on whether Richa and Jyotsna should be taken back.

However, SFI secretary Virendra Nanavati said it was a 'complicated job'. "It is going to be difficult as we have already named the replacements," Nanavati said.

THE TAINTED 12

Sportspersons in the CWG squads:

Wrestling: Rajiv Tomar, Sumit, Mausam Khatri, Gursharanpreet Kaur.
Athletics: Saurabh Vij.
Swimming: Richa Mishra, Jyotsna Pansare.

The others who tested positive but were not part of the Games contingent were Rahul Mann and Joginder Singh (wrestling), Akash Antil (athletics), Amar Muralidharan (swimming) and Sanamacha Chanu (weightlifting).

TOI

Australisa, NZ confirm participation in CWG

2010-09-24T03:51:00.001-07:00

Australia, New Zealand confirm participation

New Delhi/Melbourne, Sep 24 (PTI) In a boost to the controversy-marred event, the Australian and New Zealand Commonwealth Games bosses today confirmed participation of their teams in the Delhi Games, giving a thumbs up to the much-criticised Athletes' Village.

The decision of the two teams comes after uncertainty over their participation with the Australian Olympic Committee even questioning the wisdom of the event being awarded to Delhi while New Zealand had said it would take one more day to decide.

After a visit this morning to the Village which had come under attack from various quarters over sanitary conditions, Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief Perry Crosswhite said his country was happy with the Village and that their athletes are looking forward to the Games beginning October 3.

"We are quite happy with the Village and we are looking forward to the Games.

PM asks all involved in CWG preparations to ensure success

2010-09-24T03:42:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed all those involved in Commonwealth Games preparations that everything should be done to ensure success of the mega sporting event, Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan said on Friday.

A day after Singh took stock of the preparedness with union ministers and others involved, Chavan said there was a concern over pull-out threats and hoped that everything would go well.

"With only a few days left, the Prime Minister took personal initiative saying that no stone should be left unturned to see that we successfully conduct the Games," the minister said.

Singh held a meeting with urban development minister Jaipal Reddy, sports minister MS Gill, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna on Thursday to review the preparedness of the Commonwealth Games.

However, CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi was kept away from the meeting, triggering speculation about his being sidelined.

Chavan sought to downplay this, saying the Prime Minister had called all the departments of government and "OC does not fall in the category."

Asked about the pull-out threats and mishaps at the Games avenues, he said "We are all concerned. It's a very prestigious undertaking for the country."

TOI

Delhi Police inspectors to be deployed for CWG security

2010-09-23T21:12:00.001-07:00

New Delhi, Sep 24 (PTI) Forty per cent of Delhi Police personnel currently posted at police stations in the national capital will be deployed across the city for Commonwealth Games related security.

The police stations will also be working with one Inspector instead of the usual three during the Games which will be held in the city from October three to 14.

The Station House Officer, an inspector-rank official, has been spared of Games-related duty while the other two inspectors handling investigations and anti-terrorism squad have been assigned security duty during the sporting event.

"We have not touched the SHO but other inspectors will have to do Games related duty. After Games related duty, they will report to the police station," a senior police official said.

Now, 4 cyclists withdraw their participation

2010-09-23T21:11:00.001-07:00

London, Sep 24 (PTI) There is no stopping individual pullouts from the crisis-ridden Commonwealth Games with four leading cyclists becoming the latest to withdraw citing "fears of catching dengue fever and the unsanitary condition of the athletes' village".

Welsh world and Olympic champion Geraint Thomas, Isle of Man rider Peter Kennaugh and the England pair of Ben Swift and Ian Stannard, said they were opting out of the Games as they feared for their health after reading reports about the dengue outbreak and the "filthy" conditions at the Games Village.

"It's a massive disappointment first and foremost but with the hygiene and the risk of getting ill, it was a massive risk," said Thomas, who competes in the 4,000 metres individual pursuit, the road race and the time trial.

Cyclist Henderson first NZ athlete out of CWG

2010-09-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

MELBOURNE: Former world champion road cyclist Greg Henderson on Friday became the first selected New Zealand athlete to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games, saying there are "too many risks" in going to Delhi for the troubled event.

Henderson, who was left shaken after seeing pictures showing "filthy" conditions at the Games Village, has informed the New Zealand cycling body about his decision to withdraw.

"There are just too many risks and in this situation the cons outweigh the pros. Who knows exactly what's gone on there," said Henderson, who is here to compete in the road cycling world championships next week.

"Realistically it's probably going to be OK and the Games will go on. But where I am in my career, at the moment the negatives outweigh the pros," he was quoted as saying by 'The Sydney Morning Herald'.

Henderson said he reconsidered his decision to compete in the Games at the insistence of his wife and kids.

"It's about my family, it's not just about Greg Henderson any more, I've got to think about my wife (former Australian Olympic cyclist medallist Katie Mactier) and little girl Charlie and they don't want me going to the Commonwealth Games," Henderson said.

Henderson joins Olympic champion Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh, Ian Stannard and Ben Swift in withdrawing from the controversy-hit October 3 to 14 Games, the organisers of which are in a mad scramble to complete the preparations.

"It's not all about Greg Henderson, I've got a family now," Henderson said.

"I have to put them first and I don't feel 100 per cent sure about the environment over there. I look at it and think would I like Katie or Charlie competing over there and the answer is obviously no. I've got to put myself in their shoes and weight up if it's worth that much.

"Anything could happen over there. Is my career, is cycling, worth it?" he asked.

Henderson came sixth in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games road race.

"...the only one I'm missing is an Olympic medal and I'll be gunning for that in 2012," he said.

"It's going to be a shame not to represent my country but I'm going to do that next week (at the world road championships)."

TOI

Friday midnight is lockdown deadline: MHA

2010-09-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

With security agencies failing to take over and lock down the Commonwealth Games Village and venues even on Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has cracked the whip and told the Organising Committee and other authorities concerned to complete the work at the venues by Friday midnight, so that they can be handed over to the Delhi Police by Saturday morning.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram reviewed the security arrangements for the Games at a meeting in North Block on Thursday. Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal and representatives of the Organising Committee attended the meeting.

While taking note of the delays, the Home Minister set certain deadlines for the Organising Committee and other authorities to complete the work. The Delhi Police informed the Home Minister that once the venues are handed over to the Delhi Police, full security will be provided. Underlining the race against the clock, Chidambaram also directed that the minutes of the meeting be forwarded to the Organising Committee and others by Thursday afternoon.

Officials said that as many as 420 people had been given special passes to complete the unfinished work inside the Games Village. Another 200 workers are engaged in finishing the work on the exterior of Village. "The Village can only be sanitised and security-cleared once these workers complete the work," an official said. The fact that the foreign athletes and delegates are expected to start coming in from September 25 is only adding to the rising panic levels.

While arrangements had been made to host 8,000 guests, the latest estimates suggested that only 6,000 guests were likely to arrive. "As a result, of the 34 residential towers in the Games Village, eight will not be used," a source said.

Mamta Sharma receives Best Debut award

2010-09-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

Singer Mamta Sharma, who is in the news for her hit debut song Munni badnaam hui from Dabangg, received the 18th Journalist National Best Debut Singer award from Oscar Fernandes. She also performed at the venue.

Rahman launches Delhi 2010 theme song

2010-09-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

After much delay, composer A R Rahman unveiled the theme song for the upcoming Commonwealth Games on September 11.

The music director performed the song O yaaro, India bula liya last Saturday. The song has been composed and sung by Rahman.

The launch of the song got delayed after the Group of Ministers (GoM) overseeing the October 3-14 mega-event asked Rahman for some modifications to the composition.

Music release of For Real

Vishal Bhardwaj launched the music of the film For Real, composed by Ustad Zakir Hussain, at a Mumbai multiplex last week. Sudhir Mishra, actress Sarita Choudhury and director Sona Jain were present.

The film tells a story of an urban Indian family through the eyes of a six year-old child and releases across India on September 17 through PVR Pictures. Zakir Hussain has given music for a film after a gap of eight years. He agreed to compose because the script reminded him of his childhood.

Sarita Choudhury, the lead actress, says, “The character I play in the film is a singer, who gives up her singing career in London to get married and moves to India to be a mother. I agreed to do an Indian film after so many years because I was so impressed with the level of the writing in the script. And Zakir’s music is just beautiful.”

Sona Jain added that she needed the flavour of world music for her songs and it was a dream come true when Zakir Hussain agreed to compose the songs. “He put a condition that I would need to write the lyrics since I had written the script as well. That was something I had never done before, but I am grateful to him for pushing me, supporting a debutant director and have learnt so much from him.”

PTI

Canada announce squash, rugby teams for Delhi CWG

2010-09-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Ottawa: Canada has named an eight-member squash team for next month's Commonwealth Games, which will be spearheaded by two-time men's national champion Shahier Razik and three-time women's national champion Alana Miller.

The squash competition at the Commonwealth Games is one of the top events in the international calendar with leading nations such as England, Australia and New Zealand gunning for top honours.

Apart from Razik, the men's team will also have Shawn Delierre, who will be participating in his second Commonwealth Games, world number 78 Robin Clarke and 22-year-old Andrew McDougall.

Reigning national champion Miranda Ranieri, Stephanie Edmison and 19-year-old Samantha Cornett are the other members of the women's team along with Miller.

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"I'd like to congratulate all of the squash athletes being named and to welcome them to Team Canada. There is an excitement building as the Commonwealth Games draw nearer.

"I'm very much looking forward to cheering on our squash team as they compete against many of the world's best in Delhi," said Canada's Chef de Mission Martha Deacon.

Canada's national coach said, "With all of our Canadian players competing on international circuits, we look forward to taking on many of the best players in the world in Delhi.

"We know that players like Shahier and Alana will provide great leadership to the younger players and we expect to create some upsets."

Meanwhile, Canada also announced a strong 12-member Rugby sevens team which will be competing against powerhouses like three-time gold medallist and defending champion New Zealand, England, Australia, Fiji and South Africa in the 16-team event of the Delhi Games.

The Rugby Sevens tournament in Delhi will be the first opportunity to witness this unique brand of high-octane game in a multi-sport event since it was added to the Olympic programme a year ago.

"I know that the Rugby Sevens tournament in Delhi will be one of the hottest spectator draws of these Games. It's a great test for our talented Canadian squad," Chef de Mission Deacon said.

Rubgy Sevens team: Nanyak Dala, Thyssen de Goede, Sean Duke, Ciaran Hearn, Nathan Hirayama, Phil Mack, Ian Schoults Neil Meechan, Justin Mensah-Coker, John Moonlight, Taylor Paris, Conor Trainor; Geraint John (coach), Quentin Fyffe (assistant coach), Rodger Swany (manager).

http://www.ndtv.com/article/commonwealth%20games/canada-announce-squash-rugby-teams-for-delhi-cwg-52896?cp

Athletes Village open for Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi

2010-09-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

After a lot of predicaments and verdicts about being a failure, the Athletes Village is ready for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi which is currently thick with Dengue affected victims.

The Games village is all ready to house more than 2000 people and serve upto 25000 meals a day the experience of which has been sampled by the media. And not only this, it also has 1168 flats, an athletics track, a gym and two swimming pools. CWG Federation CEO Mike Hooper recently compared the Athletes villages to be as good as Olympics villages and is definitely the best CWG village he has ever seen till date.

However, the success of the CWG might still be a question to ponder upon up untill its started. The costs are still bringing major creases on the everyone’s brow as the Organising committee is not ready to reveal to the RTI the details of items like cutlery and flower pots which costed the taxpayer a whooping 630 crores !

With Delhi clouds still showing more signs of rain and so much to still deal with, it might lead to calling for more money so that CWG is ready and all set.

Rahman adds zing to CWG theme song

2010-09-17T06:56:00.001-07:00

MUMBAI: After dismissal reviews by many musicians, common people and even Organising Committe members, AR Rahman has finally tweaked the theme song for Commonwealth Games 'Oh yaaro, yeh India bula liya', making it more peppier and appealing.

The original version of thr song faced a lot of brickbrats and was openly criticised by CWG Organising Committee's executive board member V K Malhotra and other leaders for "falling short of expectations".

After a meeting, Commonwealth Games, Sports Secretary Sindhu Shree Khullar said, "There will be more music, particularly instrumental, in the opening theme song of the Games."

Asked whether the tweaked version will be like Shakira's 'Waka Waka', the World Cup Football song, he said, "Waka Waka was more commercial. Ours will be like Chake De.

Rahman had taken six months to come up with it and was paid Rs 5 crore, states PTI.

A music video will also be launched next week featuring sportspersons like Milkha Singh, Karnam Malleswari, Abhinav Bindra among others.

CWG lane trials causes traffic chaos in Delhi, NCR Read more: CWG lane trials causes traffic chaos in Delhi, NCR - The Times of India http://timesofi

2010-09-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Chaos reigned on the roads as the city and its suburbs had a harrowing preview of the traffic nightmare that lies in store during the Commonwealth Games next month.

Blocking out regular traffic from the special CWG lane caused massive jams in most areas, including Lodhi Road, NH-24, Ring Road, Khelgaon Marg and Mall Road.

Thousands were stuck for hours across Gurgaon as the Delhi- Gurgaon Expressway and most other arterial roads were choked. Areas affected included Huda City Centre, IFFCO Chowk and Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. The Delhi-Jaipur Road (NH-8) also witnessed heavy congestion. The blockage on the highway stretched to over three km.

Even one side of the Noida Expressway remained shut from 10.30am to 2.30pm as authorities conducted a mock drill on the 20-km stretch connecting Noida to Greater Noida.

The situation could worsen in the coming weeks. "From September 23 to October 13, we are going to shut down the expressway every day from 10.30am to 2.30pm," said Ajay Sahdev, SP (Noida traffic). In the capital too, the police plan to extend the CWG traffic trials to peak hours. On Wednesday, the traffic diversion was implemented immediately after the morning rush hour.
TOI

Sharath Kamal leads India's Table Tennis brigade in CWG

2010-08-29T21:06:00.000-07:00

With World No. 39 Sharath Kamal leading the challenge, India can expect a few medals in table tennis. The lanky Chennai player clinched the men's singles title in Melbourne four years ago, and he has what it takes to defend his title.

The Olympian paddler became the first Indian to win an ITTF Pro Tour singles title when he clinched the Egypt Open in Cairo last month.

Earlier in July, he had also won the US Open title in Michigan. After garnering some valuable points with these creditable performances, Sharath became the first Indian to break into the World top-50.

Yet it is not going to be a cakewalk for India as Singapore paddlers can throw a challenge at the hosts in both individual and team events.

Expectations are high from India because they are the hosts and also the defending champions in the team event. Hence, Sharath and Co need to be on the top of their game and feed off the cheer of the home crowd.

China will not be here but Chinese-origin players representing other countries can be difficult nuts to crack. For example, Singapore have a few players who are Chinese and may stretch the Indians in both team and individual events. Other teams like Nigeria and England can also spring a surprise.

But then, it's not a difficult task to outplay them. Sharath, for that matter, have the experience of playing against Chinese opponents in international tournaments.

In fact, he had beaten a Chinese player in the final of the Cairo Open. Other Indians who play on pro-tour also are now aware of Chinese tactics. So, it may not be very difficult for Indian players to showcase their strength and confidence.

Currently, the Indian team is going through the paces at a training camp in Zhengding, China, where their strengths and weaknesses are being identified.

The players' improvement is visible under the tutelage of Italian coach Massimo Constantine, particularly if Sharath's performances are taken into account. The hosts have earned more success with European coaches because the style is similar to the Europeans.

With the government providing support and TTFI also leaving no stone unturned, the future of Indian table tennis looks bright.

CWG medals won by India

table tennis is an optional sport for men and women that was first held in Manchester 2002. Athletes representing 35 countries competed at Melbourne 2006. Table tennis will feature in both Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014.

Gold: 2006 Melbourne: Men's singles, men's team event

Bronze: 2002 Manchester: Men's singles, men's doubles, men's team event; 2006 Melbourne: Women's team event

Core Probables

Men: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Soumyadeep Roy, Subhajit Saha, Anthony Arputhraj Amal Raj, Sourav Chakraborty, Jubin Kumar, Soumyajit Ghosh, Sanil Shankar Shetty, Devesh Karia

Women: Madhurika Suhas Patkar, Divya Chandrashekhar Deshpande, Shamini Kumaresan, Poulomi Ghatak, Mouma Das, Neha Aggarwal, Soumi Mondal, Pooja Vijay Sahasrabudhe

Coaches: Massimo Costantini ( foreign coach), Bhawani Mukherji ( chief coach), Nandini Kulkarni, Manoj Chowhan, Vijaya Sarathi, Rita Jain, T Opendro Singh

No. of exposure trips: 10

World stars: Gao Ning (Singapore), Feng Tianwei (Singapore), Paul Drinkhall (England)
TOI

Aug 31 deadline for CWG to be missed: Jaipal Reddy Read more: Aug 31 deadline for CWG to be missed: Jaipal Reddy

2010-08-27T06:03:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Another deadline for completion of projects at the venues for Commonwealth Games here will be missed with union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy saying on Thursday there will be delay by a "couple" of days beyond August 31.

Reddy blamed the rains and delay in delivery of containers for the missed deadline to hand over the games venues to the organisers. The 11-day sporting event is scheduled to start on October 3.

"The schedule is not met strictly. It is being delayed by a couple of days because of rain also and because of delay in delivery of containers," Reddy told reporters after a Group of Ministers (GOM) meeting on the Games.

After extending the time-frame a few times in the past, the Delhi government had fixed August 31 as the latest deadline for completing Games projects.

"There will be a delay by a couple of days and not more than that," Reddy, who heads the GoM, said.

The electronic connectivity in the stadium and outside was discussed threadbare in the GoM meet attended by sports minister MS Gill, tourism minister Kumari Selja, Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit, cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar, sports and youth affairs secretary Sindhusree Khullar and other senior officials.

"The main focus was the work to be done by MTNL, TCIL and Prasar Bharati. All of them have given comprehensive reports," said Reddy.

Expressing satisfaction, he said "At the end of the day the communication network is the most important thing. It was reviewed today and we are satisfied that we are on schedule."

About the container problem, he said "all the containers have been cleared and we are in complete control of the situation."

The GoM also took note of rising number of dengue cases in the capital.

Downplaying the dengue threat, Reddy said "We also discussed the situation arising out of dengue. I do not think situation is that alarming and by raising an alarm, we will discourage the athletes."

Asked about the aerostat clearance, he said, "Aerostat is a new kind of device. Earlier we got clearance for balloon. So the technical clearances were required."

The multi-crore aerostat (helium balloon), touted to be a star attraction at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, would be up in the sky by September first week for trials.

The security agencies will undertake a proper check of the balloon and the helium tank would be completely sealed off till the Games.

The aerostat is mounted with cameras that provides a 360-degree viewing experience and has laser projections. It is for the first time that such a massive balloon will be used for any sporting event in India.

The issue of ticket distribution was also taken up by the GoM.

TOI

ndian archers aiming for success

2010-08-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

The common complaint against Indian archers for long was that they have always failed to live up to their potential in international tournaments.

There cannot be a better opportunity than the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi next month for the archers to bury that view forever. India named a 12-member strong squad after a selection trial among 64 probables (which was later pruned down to 24). There weren't many surprises except for Tarundeep Rai finding a berth in the recurve side with Beijing Olympian Mangal Singh Champia missing out. But in archery, like most other sports, it's the present form that matters rather than past records and in that respect, Rai fits in perfectly.

The archers made an early start for the CWG with their camp beginning in Kolkata in March 2009. All the probables along with the coaches and support staff were stationed there permanently.

There were no exposure trips but the archers took part in a number of international meets like the different legs of the World Cup and the Asian Grand Prix events in between. Thus, the selected archers are not short on match practice, and are raring to go. As a matter of fact the level of competition that they faced over the past year was much higher than what they are expected to encounter in New Delhi. With no Korea and China in CWG, logically, there is every reason to be optimistic about India's chances of winning a handful of the 24 medals on offer.

The Indian hopes rest mainly on the men's recurve team of Rai, Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee. The team had won the gold medal in the Invitational Commonwealth Games Test event staged at the Yamuna Sports Complex in New Delhi during March. Rai also claimed individual gold in that event.
The men's side picked up a gold at World Cup Stage II at Antalya, Turkey also this year. CWG will be one of the biggest events for the compound archers since compound archery is not an Olympic event. The competition in compound category is expected to be much tougher than in recurve category in CWG with teams like Australia, South Africa and Canada all capable of surprising any team.

But still national coach Limba Ram is hopeful of at least two gold medals - in men's and women's team events - from Indian compound archers.

However, the Olympian would have preferred to camp in New Delhi a month before the Games. "It would have been nice if we could have got an opportunity to practise at the venue for some more time. But still I am hopeful that my boys and girls will enjoy home advantage as in archery, conditions play a very important role," Limba said.

Numbers Game:

24: No. of probables
12: Coaches
2: Women in the coaching staff
2: Foreign coaches
4: Support staff
2: Women in support staff
03/2009: Starting time for CWG camp
16: Medals expected.

World stars: Australia's Patrick Coghlan ( 2008 World Cup winner), Canadian Dietmar Trillus (ex-world champion), England's Danielle Brown ( Paralympic gold medallist).

Squad:

Recurve (men): Tarundeep Rai, Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee
Recurve (women): Dola Banerjee, L Bombayala Devi, Deepika Kumari
Compound (men): C Srither, C H Jignas, Ritul Chatterjee
Compound (women): Jhanu Hansda, Gagandeep Kaur, Bheigyabati Chanu.

TOI

Time for India to throw a big punch

2010-08-23T04:52:00.000-07:00

For long, boxers from India were dismissed simply as street-fighters equipped with haymakers, who led with one's chin and left the ring with a mouse on their face.

With the 2002 gold at the Manchester Commonwealth Games along with a silver and a bronze, India made an attempt to erase the tag of being slow learners of the 'Sweet Science.' But that was not to be. They fell flat on their face again with sub-par performances over the next couple of years including the exit of four boxers in the first round at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

While that was a punch in the gut, the Athens Olympics is still regarded as the rite of passage and 2004 the watershed year in the annals of Indian boxing. The Indians took the beating to heart and learnt a lesson: the usual upper-cuts and hooks gave way to long-range boxing and computer-friendly punches.

"I noticed in Athens that there was no shortage of hard work. We were not fighting clever, that's all," said PK Murlidharan Raja, secretary of IBF, adding, "A judge can get suspended for giving wrong decisions. Therefore, all judges mostly give points on clear straight single punches. Cuban boxers learnt about it early. We were still hooking and swinging wildly to score points."

There was a meeting right after the Athens disaster where 30-odd coaches from across India met and argued on the urgent need to teach their wards the art of straight punches. They even introduced a system at the sub-junior tournaments whereby boxers could be penalized for using the upper-cut and the hook. This helped in fast-tracking the learning process for the junior as well as at the senior level. The result was immediate. Few months later in 2006, pugilists produced their best-ever show by winning the Commonwealth Boxing Championships highlighted by a four-gold haul. They followed it up with five medals at the Melbourne CWG. But the biggest of them all was the corker from Vijender at the Beijing Olympics.

Thus, this time at the Delhi Games, the hosts will field an upbeat and raring-to-go bunch which will target more than five medals from 10 weight categories.

The task, though, is exacting. For one, since most of Indian boxers in the probables list are right-handed as opposed to participants of other countries, who are either ambidextrous or southpaws. When a right-handed boxer charges a leftie, he has to manipulate his technique altogether otherwise he keeps hitting the opposition's guard and scores no points. Secondly, nowadays boxers try to take an early lead and close their guards thereafter. It's essential to know how to pierce it. Indians have trained with these two motives for the last two years. The Games will give them the yield.

Indians boxers have been backed by good preparation, a luxury for most Indian sportspersons. Besides, in combat sports, the horde of madly cheering fans can make champions out of lesser mortals. Vijender, Suronjoy, Nanao & Co. will have plenty of crowd support. They now have to pull the punches.

NUMBER GAME
Core Probables 44
Coaches 07
Foreign Coach 01
Supporting Staff 04
Number of camps/Days 10/552 Days
International Exposure Trips 15
Medals expectations 6 to 7

Foreign stars: Luke Jackson, Alexey Mukhin (both Australia), Khalid Yafai, Iain Weaver and Tom Stalker (all England).

TOI

Ministry seeks more details from AITA on payment row Read more: Ministry seeks more details from AITA on payment row

2010-08-23T04:51:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The payment row which prompted top tennis players to issue a Commonwealth Games boycott threat is expected to take another fortnight to resolve as the sports ministry on Monday sought more details of the expenses from the All India Tennis Association to release the money.

AITA Secretary General Anil Khanna and Chairman of the CWG preparations program Jaideep Mukherjea along with other officials on Monday met Rahul Bhatnagar, Joint Secretary (International Sports Division) of the Sports Ministry and discussed the long-pending issue.

Bhatnagar said AITA has provided some data but they need more details about the expenses of all the five players - Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza.

"At least we had something to start with today. We have got some details but we need more details from AITA which they say they will give by this evening or tomorrow morning," Bhatnagar said.

On being asked what those details were, Bhatnagar said, "They have given us the details about the number of tournaments participated by the players in the last two years but we need a certificate which says that their air-fare and hotel stay was not on sponsorship money or from Organisers fund."

"AITA says it has not received all the bills from the players but hopefully they'll find out a way."

The men's team had threatened to pull out of the Games if their dues were not cleared. However, they confirmed their participation after being assured that the matter would be resolved.

Meanwhile, AITA issued a statement claiming that all the issues have been resolved.

"All payment issues regarding elite players have been resolved and with minimum documentation and the ministry has agreed to process the papers at the earliest so that elite players can receive their dues under the CWG preparations within two-three weeks," a statement by Mukherjea said.

Bhatnagar said if AITA submits all details in time, money can be released in another 15 days.

The ministry official said final entitlement of each player can be known only after they have all the documents with them.

He said the government will pay economy class air-fare as per the Balmer Lawrie

TOI

Finally, CWG catering service contracts finalised

2010-08-20T07:01:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: After months of delay, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) on Thursday finalised the catering services for the October 3-14 Games.

The CGOC in a statement said that catering for the lounges has been divided into total of eight clusters.

Two clusters have been awarded to Graviss Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. for Rs.5.94 crore, while Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (ICRTC) has got the contract for Rs.1.70 crore for one cluster. The remaining five have been awarded to Seven Seas Pvt. Ltd. for Rs.6.29 crore.

Food packets for CGOC workforce, volunteers and security personnel will be taken care of by AFP Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd. at a cost of Rs.8.75 crore.

To ensure high quality and hygiene, the Organising Committee has proactively engaged TQS Global Manufacturing Systems and TUVSUD, South Asia for Food Safety and Audit.

These two firms will supervise and ensure safety audit checks for the entire food, production and distribution process, including the kitchen distribution mechanism. This contract was worth Rs.88.24 lakh.

All the catering contracts have been awarded to the lowest bidder in respective categories, officials said.

The catering for the Games Village has already been awarded to an Australian firm Delaware North, which has the Taj SATS as its consortium partner. The kitchen at the Village is under installation and will be functional by the first week of September.

TOI

Commonwealth Games tickets to be launched on August 25

2010-08-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The 2010 Commonwealth Games tickets will be finally available in retail outlets across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) from Wednesday.

The Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games have attracted the maximum interest, so far contributing 25 per cent of the sales.

Among the sporting events, hockey is the front-runner, accounting for 14 per cent of the tickets sold so far, followed by athletics at 11 per cent and gymnastics at 10 per cent. Swimming is at the fourth spot with 8 per cent share.

Apart from the Indian market, Australia leads the tally with maximum number of buyers for tickets followed by New Zealand and Britain.

Tickets can be bought from 20 selected Central Bank of India branches as well as seven nominated Hero Honda showrooms as well as the IRCTC outlet in Central Delhi. All the ticket related information regarding list of the outlets and booking is available on www.tickets.cwgdelhi2010.org.

Apart from Delhi, tickets will also be available in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad.

An added incentive for ticket-holders is free Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) rides on the day of the event, including the Opening and Closing ceremonies, All ticket-holders will be allowed one to and fro ride on the Metro and DTC buses for that specific day.

Internet sales gave the initial fillip to the sales that began in June. The first phase of the three-phase ticket sale process was exclusively through the Commonwealth Games ticketing website, while second phase enables people to access the retail outlets as well.

At the retail outlets, direct purchases can be made and those holding vouchers can also procure actual tickets there. The third phase will give people access to venue outlets as well.

TOI

Injury forces Rice out of Commonwealth Games

2010-08-19T20:52:00.001-07:00

IRVINE: Australia's triple Olympic gold medallist Stephanie Rice will have shoulder surgery and miss the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October, the emotional swimmer said on Thursday.

Rice, in California to compete in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, said she could no longer swim through the pain caused by inflammation in her right shoulder and would have surgery, probably within a fortnight.

"Obviously it's a big disappointment to me," said Rice, whose week at the PanPacs is also done. "I have to think about the bigger picture, and that's definitely London 2012."

The 22-year-old, who won Olympic gold in Beijing in the 200m and 400m individual medleys and in the 4x200m freestyle relay, was the highest profile member of the 48-strong squad named by Australia in March at the conclusion of their national championships.

But she has battled pain in her shoulder that has hindered her training.

When her shoulder came up sore after she posted a personal best in the 50m butterfly here on Wednesday, she and coach Michael Bohl agreed surgery couldn't be put off any longer.

"As disappointing as it is, I think it's the right decision," said Rice, who broke down in tears when talking to an Australian television crew but composed herself to continue discussing her plans.

"It's going to be really hard to watch the team go away and watch everyone race," Rice said.

She said the surgery would be a "clean-out" rather than reconstruction.

"They have told me rehab is 12 weeks, I guess four weeks out of the water if the surgery goes well," she said.

Despite the disappointment, Rice said it was a relief to have a plan in place, after months of coping with the injury on a day-by-day basis.

But Australian head coach Leigh Nugent admitted her loss was a big blow to the team, but indicated it would be worth it if Rice is at full strength for the 2012 Olympics in London.

"She's the spearhead of our women's team, if not the whole team," Nugent said. "We'll be taking a step backward to take a step forward in the future."

TOI

Pvt cos keen to sponsor CWG as PSUs pull out Read more: Pvt cos keen to sponsor CWG as PSUs pull out

2010-08-19T20:51:00.001-07:00

MUMBAI/BANGALORE: Is the controversy surrounding the Commonwealth Games (CWG) scaring off sponsors? Though PSUs like NTPC and PowerGrid Corporation are threatening to pull out of the games, private sector companies so far seem to be the torchbearers for the event.

With the government on Thursday giving fresh assurances to control the damage, a section of corporates believes that the controversy could, actually, have a positive rub-off effect on the popularity of the games.

Venugopal Dhoot, chairman, Videocon Group, said, "The regular media coverage on the controversies surrounding the CWG has created public awareness on the games, which were hitherto not very popular. We have decided to spend on advertising for the commonwealth games." Videocon Group spends a couple of hundred crores on advertisements every year. The diversified consumer television manufacturer-to-mobile operator has been sponsoring various sports events such as cricket, tennis and boxing since 1991 when it first sponsored the Asia Cup Cricket.

Media buyers pointed out that even in the past, cricket, movie launches and other events have benefited from controversies. This was seen last year when the popularity of IPL went up after Harbhajan Singh slapped Sreesanth. Similarly, India-Australia series in 2008 benefited from the verbal duel between Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan. "As we near CWG and the confidence builds up, more advertisers will look at it as a great opportunity. In terms of ratings, I am sure that the controversy will aid in taking the viewership up," said Nandini Dias, COO, Lodestar, a media agency.

Clients like Hero Honda, Coca-Cola and Airtel have already tied up for CWG sponsorships. International rights and ground rights, too, have been tied up. As to whether the official beverage partner for CWG was still continuing with its sponsorship, a Coca-Cola spokesman said, "Our partnership with CWG is an extension of the company's focus on promoting healthy, active living for people and also to build social cohesiveness by using sports as a vehicle. We have been associated with several sporting events globally and in India. Our plans for CWG as its beverage partner is intact."

What Coca-Cola gains by associating with CWG is the opportunity to refresh more than 8,000 athletes and delegates, and more than 30,000 volunteers who will take part in the games. The global beverage maker believes that the New Delhi CWG will be a platform to promote sporting culture in the country and help catapult India into the league of prominent sporting nations. "The games are an important vehicle in helping us continue to connect consumers to our brands," said the Coca-Cola spokesperson.

That's not all. Companies are also seen going strong on celebrity endorsements, backing CWG sports participants. For instance, Saina Nehwal, the world No. 2 badminton player, has been approached by over 10 companies, including multinationals, for endorsement. Sports celebrity managers who TOI spoke to said that none of Saina's deals have been affected by the CWG controversy.

PSUs said to be still backing the event include the Air India Indian Railways, and Central Bank of India. Said an Air India spokesperson: "Since we are the official airline partner, there is no cash outflow. We will only be carrying the delegates and athletes to the event and their tickets are free."

An NTPC official told TOI: "After all hell broke loose, the company has become apprehensive because NTPC wants the money to be put to good use."

TOI

50 days to go: Can the CWG mess be cleared in time? Read more: 50 days to go: Can the CWG mess be cleared in time?

2010-08-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Five years after the plan to redevelop Connaught Place was finalised, the city's stylish central plaza looks like a war-ravaged zone. And just 50 days remain for the Commonwealth Games. Can this collosal mess be cleared in time?

That's today the Rs 450-crore question - the amount that is being spent, ostensibly for the city's beautification before the Games but which now threatens to become a huge embarrassment for the city, indeed, for India. Who is responsible for this? Not Suresh Kalmadi, in this instance, but NDMC and its parent ministry, the urban development ministry.

New stretches are being dug up in CP and old ones hurriedly filled up. Consider this: work on the three new subways that was begun has been stopped midway and the pits are being covered up only to be reopened after the event. There are pipes, cables and mounds of earth strewn all over, walkways are still being built, and the middle circle is a cavernous pit in many places.

The man who has the answers to questions like why NDMC sat on the plan for four years and started work on a project 19 months before the Games when by its own admission it should take 18-24 months - NDMC chairmanParimal Rai - appears to have gone under the radar. Despite repeated attempts by TOI throughout the day he would not respond to any of our queries.

Still, the questions demand an answer. When it took a full one year to complete the "model" C Block of CP, how did NDMC think it could fix all of CP in just 19 months? NDMC spokesman Anand Tiwari parroted stock excuses - how difficult it is to do work on a "live" street, how the subways could not be readied in time as there was a drainage junction that was discovered in the course of digging, etc.

Well, that it was a "live" street wasn't a state secret before the work was started, nor would a drainage problem have been a mystery if sewerage maps had been consulted. So, what was the tearing hurry to start the work and present the city and the nation with a humungous mess? Couldn't work wait till the Games were over?

This was Tiwari's brave answer: "We could not have waited till after the Games to start work because the two-year contract (with the contractor) is due to expire in June 2011. How could we keep all work for the last six months? And work had to be started because a lot of CP was crumbling. Would you want tourists to see a crumbling CP?"

But would we want them to see a ploughed-up CP? No chance, he assures. CP will be ready by August 31 "plus minus a few days here and there." TOI finds the claims very, very difficult to believe, although it would be the happiest if it were to be proved wrong.

As the skeleton strength of shoppers negotiate mounds of earth and balance themselves on makeshift "bridges" to get from one side to the other, it is indeed difficult to believe the assurances. Specially when of the 16 blocks where work is on, only seven have been completed so far. Only six parking lots outside of the blocks are ready and work on the middle circle road is on.

And what about the extra cost of the go-stop-go pace of work, like with the subways? "It's nominal compared to the scale of the work," Tiwari offers. But he did not give the cost escalation figure, choosing to give instead the total cost of the subway project - Rs 60 crore.

The money is big indeed. The sum allocated is Rs 450 crore, but the entire project cost is estimated to go up to a stunning Rs 860 crore, to be spent over a three-year period. Critics say that the whole project smacks of a contractor-government agency nexus, although there is no evidence yet to prove it.
Tiwari says: "Work began in 2009, as getting permission from government bodies took time. There will be a visible change in CP by August 31. Everything will be in place as far as public convenience is concerned."

Despite having initial plans of constructing eight subways, NDMC got permission to start work on only three of the subways. The three subways - two at Punchkuian Road and another at BKS Marg - have been covered with loose earth and a road will be made over it. The entry and exit points of the subway will be blocked only temporarily and work on the subways will resume after Games. In fact, the road along Punchkuian road will have to be dug up again as the work of creating retaining wall has not been completed.

Said Tiwari: "NDMC will take up subway work along the middle carriageway of the Outer Circle after Games with work having been completed at the two ends. However, digging will have to be carried out at Punchkuian Road again on the sides again." The openings made for installing escalators at the existing five subways too have been closed.

Says Tiwari: "Drainage barrels (junctions) are coming in the way of the escalator work. We will, however, try to install escalators in two subways. No decision yet on which they will be." Incidentally the sole purpose why existing subways were touched was installation of escalators. The subway near LIC building has been completely closed by NDMC.

Service lines will be placed in the duct in the middle circle only after the Games. Other components of the redevelopment plan which will be taken up only after the Games include the central cooling system, changing the flooring in the area and constructing concrete roads.

Said Tiwari: "There was some controversy over the flooring due to which we could not go ahead with the work. As far as re-laying of roads in concerned, we will upgrade them using bitumen and will later construct concrete roads." Sources say the bitumen is being used because the civic agency cannot afford to give concrete roads the time it requires to "settle" Moreover, the roads will have to be dug up again after the Games.

TOI

Somdev to lead Indian challenge in Commonwealth Games, Davis Cup

2010-08-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: India No.1 Somdev Devvarman will lead the country's challenge in the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games men's tennis event and next month's Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Brazil in Chennai.

Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna are other players selected Friday by the committee comprising Anil Dhupar (chairman), SP Misra, Rohit Rajpal and Balram Singh for both the events.

Yuki Bhambri, Vishnu Vardhan and VM Ranjeet have been nominated as reserve players for the Commonwealth Games.

Vishnu Vardhan, Ranjeet Virali Murugesan and Divij Sharan are the reserves for the Davis Cup tie. Misra will continue to be the non-playing captain of the team.

The selection of the women's team has been deferred by a week, till the conclusion of the ongoing coaching camp at Pune on the recommendations of the coaches for the Games' preparation -- Jaidip Mukerjea, Nandan Bal and Enrico Piperno.

"The trials are still going, the coaches are overseeing the players' performances. Once the camp gets over, they will be in a better position to recommend the names," Mukerjea said.

The selection committee also discussed the clash of the ATP World Tour doubles with the November Asian Games and has deferred the decision for nominating the team for the event.

Team:

Commonwealth Games (men's): Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna.

Reserves: Yuki Bhambri, Vishnu Vardhan and VM Ranjeet

Davis Cup: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna.

Reserves: Vishnu Vardhan, Ranjeet Virali Murugesan and Divij Sharan

TOI

CWG scam: Kalmadi, Fennell under ED scanner

2010-08-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Top bosses of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and the Organizing Committee have come under the government's scanner with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sending notices to the Royal Bank of Scotland in London and to its Indian representative for providing all transaction details of payments made by the OC.

The ED investigation is now focused on trailing the ultimate beneficiaries of the payments made to four major CWG consultants - Event Knowledge Services, Fast Track Sales Ltd, Sports Marketing And Management (SMAM) and AM Films.

Preliminary findings of the probe carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had revealed that undue favour had been shown to London-based Fast Track Sales Ltd "solely on the recommendation" of CGF president Mike Fennell and OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi.

ED officials, who questioned sacked Kalmadiaide T S Darbari a few days ago on the payments made to little-known London firm AM Films, may also call suspended OC finance committee head M Jeychandren for questioning in the next few days.

They are expected to seek details on payments made to all foreign consultants.

Sources said Kalmadi may not be called for questioning till October 13, the day the Games conclude. But efforts will be made to investigate all leads based on payments made so far to all foreign consultants by the OC.

Besides Darbari, ED has already questioned former OC deputy DG Sanjay Mohindroo for transactions related to AM Films.

The OC had approved the international broadcasting sales consultancy to Fast Track Sales Ltd "only on the basis of suggestions made by the president and CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and chairman of the OC," according to documentary evidence gathered by CAG officials during the initial inspection of CWG books.

The OC had signed agreements to the tune of Rs 208 crore ($46 million) with different agencies, including agreement in process amounting to over $3 million with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for the broadcasting rights in UK. The commission to Fast Track on these broadcast rights was 15%.

The OC secretary general, Lalit Bhanot, has defended the award of the contract to Fast Track saying it was a well thought out decision as they did not want all works to go to SMAM.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper also defended the decision of the CGF president in recommending Fast Track saying that though the federation did make this suggestion, but it was ultimately for the OC to select consultants for the New Delhi CWG.

"Although the CGF supported the appointment of Fast Track, it strongly refutes any inference that it interfered in the selection process," Hooper said adding that having awarded the Games to Delhi, it is for the OC to decide who it wants to appoint for any outsourced role.

ED is probing linkages of SMAM with the Mauritius-based World Sports Group (WSG). The latter had received Rs 380 crore "facilitation fee" in the IPL-Gate and is still under scanner of multiple agencies in India. SMAM was also the agency that was hired by the Kalmadi-led OC for the Youth Games in Pune in 2008.

The other consultancy firm to whom payments have been made is the Swiss headquartered EKS that was hired by the CWG organisers to provide knowhow on the conduct of the Games.

TOO

Interim CAG report points fingers at Kalmadi-led CWG OC Read more: Interim CAG report points fingers at Kalmadi-led CWG OC

2010-08-11T20:46:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its interim inspection report has found some discrepancies in choosing consultants for global broadcasting rights and sponsorship deal for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games here.

The report found that the games Organising Committee of which Suresh Kalmadi is the chairman had awarded the sponsorship deal to Melbourne-based Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM) at a very cheap price, official sources said on Wednesday night.

The sponsorship deal has since been scrapped on grounds of 'non-performance', a claim that has been refuted by the Australian firm, which said the charges against it are "imaginary".

UK's Fast Track Sales Ltd was chosen as the consultant for the broadcasting rights.

The inspection of the CWG Organising Committee was done by field officers between November 2009 and January 2010. The inspection report has been sent to the Committee for its comments and it was not immediately known if a response has been made.

It was pointed out that the report related to an inspection done by field officers and it was not an audit report. It was also said that the final report may differ from the findings of the inspection report.

The sources said there was also a mention of Maxxam International in the interim report which raised questions on the procedures adopted for the Queen's Baton Relay, held in London last year.

This deal for organising the event went to Maxxam which reportedly had emerged as the highest bidder.

TOI

15-day practice is enough for CWG, says Tejaswini

2010-08-09T20:15:00.001-07:00

15-day practice is enough for CWG, says Tejaswini

NEW DELHI, Aug 9: Asserting that delay in completion of the CWG venues would not rob country’s athletes of home advantage, India’s first World Champion woman shooter Tejaswini Sawant on Monday said just 15-day vigorous practice is enough to prepare for the Commonwealth Games.

Sawant said lack of knowledge of the Munich venue, where she won gold on Sunday, hardly affected her chances.

“One month is enough to get trained for the Commonwealth Games. Even 10-15 days of rigorous training would be enough for us,” said Tejaswini, who was in the capital along with another shooter Gagan Narang to meet Sports Minister MS Gill.

“We will not lose the home advantage. It’s not that I had always practiced in Munich before clinching gold there. I was unaware of the conditions there. I straight went into the championship. What helped me there was my determination, clear aim and positive mindset.

“Same is here in India. You need all these three traits to win medals. You can’t pass on the buck by saying venues are incomplete. It makes a very small difference,” the rifle shooter said.

Some former athletes and administrators feel that India’s medal prospects will be hit badly as many of the venues have not been made available to athletes to get acclimatised.

Tejaswini though is confident that Indian shooters will do well at October 3-14 Games here.

“It’s very important to consider what conditions are you practicing. Practice, positive mindset, concentration are the most important assets of a player. We will produce our best in the Games,” she said.

Tejaswini shot a score of 597 (100, 100, 100, 99, 99, 99), equalling the 1998 record set by Marina Bobkova of Russia.

“I was not thinking about a medal or a world record. Having got both, it’s just amazing. It’s a dream come true. My coaches, including Kazakh coach Stanislav Lapidus, made some plans for me and I am glad that everything worked accordingly,” the shooter from Kolhapur said.

Tejaswini dedicated her victory to her late father. She recalled how at one point financial constrains forced her to consider giving up shooting, but the strong support of her family, especially her father, kept her going.

“I dedicate this medal to my father. I proved him right. I fulfilled his dreams,” she said.

Tejaswini’s father passed away on February 23 when she was competing at the Commonwealth Championships here. (PTI)

Commonwealth Games: Delhi to miss date again?

2010-08-08T22:00:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's promise of completing all Commonwealth Games projects being implemented by her government by the extended deadline of August 31 is appearing to fall flat.

Top officials in Delhi government admitted that key projects like Barapullah Nallah elevated road and renovation of the Yamuna Sports Complex, apart from street-scraping around the Games venues are unlikely to finished by August-end.

Chief secretary Rakesh Mehta said although a carriageway of the Barapulla Nallah elevated road will be completed by August 25, the construction activities on second carriageway could be finished by first week of September only.

The four-km-long elevated road between Sarai Kale Khan and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue of the event, is being built to provide uninterrupted traffic flow from Games Village near Akshardham temple to the stadium. The over Rs 550-crore project has already missed several deadlines.

Similarly, renovation of Yamuna Sports Complex, where archery and table tennis events will take place, is not likely to be completed by August-end. Peripheral works in and around Talkatora Stadium and Karni Singh Shooting Range are also not expected to be over by the deadline.

Finance minister AK Walia has publicly stated that work in Yamuna Sports Complex will not be over by the month-end.

Delhi government had undertaken projects worth over Rs 10,000 crore to improve infrastructure in the city ahead of the Games that start on October 3.

Works related to plantation and greenery are also lagging far behind. Although plantation works have been allowed to run through September, several agencies planning to put up potted plants are a bit confused as police have objected to placing the pots near the gates of the venues.

Facing severe criticism for delay in finishing Games-related projects, Dikshit had last month directed all agencies concerned to complete pending work within the final deadline.

Top PWD officials, overseeing street-scraping projects across the city, have also admitted that the works will only be over by mid-September. The department has deployed an additional workforce of 700 labours to wrap up the street-scraping projects.

"Nine agencies are working on various projects to improve various infrastructures in the city. Some of the projects are getting delayed because of lack of coordination among the agencies," said chief secretary Mehta.

Questions are also being raised over whether the 2,000 flats being renovated by the DDA in Vasant Kunj for stay of technical staff of the Games will be completed ahead of the mega sporting event. DDA engineers, earlier in the week, had said that they will not be able to complete the flats before the Games.

TOI

Under-pressure, Kalmadi says ready for CAG or judicial probe

2010-08-04T20:18:00.001-07:00

Under-pressure, Kalmadi says ready for CAG or judicial probe

NEW DELHI, Aug 4: Cornered by allegations of corruption in the Commonwealth Games’ preparations and isolated within his own party, under-fire Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Wednesday said he is ready to face any CAG or judicial probe into the financial transactions related to the event.

“I, as chairman of the Organising Committee, am prepared to face any scrutiny by (Comptroller and Auditor General) CAG or even a judicial probe for all financial transactions being reported by the media. All the people found guilty will be punished and brought to book,” Kalmadi said in a statement.

Kalmadi’s statement came a day after more allegations of irregularities and the Indian High Commission’s e-mails being ‘doctored’ came to light. The Congress party also distanced itself from Pune MP.

Delhi Games in crisis as clock runs down

2010-08-02T21:19:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: The Commonwealth Games in New Delhi have been plunged into crisis just two months before the opening ceremony by allegations of corruption, shoddy workmanship and delays in handing over venues.

Monday should have witnessed the final handover -- already twice delayed -- of the venues to the event directors, but four are still under construction and others are the focus of a row over sub-standard work.

The Games, which India had hoped would be a showcase for its emergence as a global economic power, are scheduled to begin on October 3.

The charges of rampant corruption and concerns over the ballooning cost have drowned out increasingly desperate-sounding assurances from top Indian officials, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, that preparations are on track.

An Indian anti-corruption body last week reported it had found a host of problems with construction work, including use of poor quality materials and dubious contracts.

The chief technical examiner from the Central Vigilance Commission inspected 15 sites around the national capital and found a number of irregularities and suspect practices by contractors and public bodies.

The Times of India said all construction quality certificates inspected so far had turned out to be fake or "suspect."

Indian media also reported that the British government had raised questions about suspect sums being transferred from the organising committee to a British-based firm.

The reports prompted the chairman of the Games organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, to address a hurried press conference where he slammed the media for conducting a "prejudiced campaign".

"I wish to state that we have nothing to hide and I stand before you with clear conscience and complete conviction," Kalmadi said.

"We believe in total transparency. The campaign is very demoralising for athletes and officials who have been working day and night for many years now to make the Games a success.

"The need of the hour is to get on with the Games and be united to make this happen. Let not corruption be the only highlight. There are many positive things to write and talk about."

Media coverage has become increasingly negative as the games approach.

The India Today news magazine dubbed the event the "Shame Games" while a recent editorial in The Times of India said it was "in danger of becoming an exhibition of ineptitude and incompetence."

The event involving 71 nations is already the costliest Commonwealth Games in history, with an infrastructure and organising budget of two billion dollars. Unofficial estimates say the cost will be at least three times that amount.

The desperate race to get everything finished in time has been hampered by heavy monsoon rains that have turned worksites across the city into mudbaths and even flooded some of the main venues.

Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper said Monday he was concerned about the Central Vigilance Commission's report and made it clear that the organisers would refuse to take over suspect venues.

"We will not accept the handover of any venue if appropriate documents are not there attesting that the venues are fit for the purpose," Hooper said.

Opposition parties have seized on the corruption allegations to condemn the government's handling of preparations for the Games.

Police had to use water cannon on Monday to disperse opposition activists who marched to parliament with banners bearing slogans including: "Is it Commonwealth Games or the Loot of the Common Man?"

Other Commonwealth nations have expressed concerns about the situation, although Perry Crosswhite, the chief executive of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, said he suspected political motives at play.

"It looks like the parties and the government there are having a go at each other and no doubt everybody has got their little axe to grind," Crosswhite said on Monday.

"These things tend to happen before these types of events -- the blame game happens.

TOI

Govt assures action in CWG ‘corruption’

2010-08-01T18:19:00.001-07:00

Govt assures action in CWG ‘corruption’

NEW DELHI, Aug 1: Hit by allegations of corruption in the Commonwealth Games, the government today promised to take action against those found guilty even as another venue was inaugurated with a leaking roof. Union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy was in damage-control mode over the Central Vigilance Commission's report on widescale corruption in Games' construction projects. “CVC has come out with preliminary remarks on the alleged irregularities in the construction of Commonwealth venues. I assure you that all concerned would be punished. Nothing would be spared. We will seriously look into it,” Reddy said during the inauguration of the Weightlifting auditorium inside the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium complex here today. The Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, who was forced to address an hour-long press conference to rebutt charges of financial bunglings yesterday, was issuing clarifications yet again. The Indian Olympic Association chief insisted that the UK-based firm at the center of a corruption row that has hit OC was recommended by the Indian High Commission despite an embarrassing denial issued by it earlier.The Indian High Commission had denied recommending A M Films, the little-known UK-based firm which allegedly received lakhs of pounds for providing its ‘services’ during the Queen's Baton Relay in London. (PTI)

UK government follows CWG cash trail

2010-07-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

LONDON: The Indian High Commission has alerted the Union government about investigations launched by UK authorities into cash transfers of Pounds 2,47,469 (approx Rs 1.68 crore) in October 2009 from the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee (OC) to a UK-based company, AM Films UK Ltd.

The money was transferred in lieu of services obtained from the UK company during the Queen's Baton Relay function in London in October last year. The British Revenue and Customs Department has now written to the Indian High Commission, saying there are discrepancies in the payment of this money by the OC.

The UK government has stated that apart from Pounds 2,47,469, a figure of Pounds 25,000 (Rs 17 lakh) is being transferred every month into the account of UK-based AM Films. A rough estimate reveals that nearly Pounds 4,50,000 (Rs 3.06 crore) has been transferred to AM Films until now.

A visit by TIMES NOW to the premises of AM Films UK Ltd in London showed that the company on location was AM Vehicles Hire Ltd. Further, Ashish Patel, the director, had since resigned from the company on July 14, 2010. The details of the investigations are now being tracked by ED.

Documents with TIMES NOW show that the deal came to light when the OC asked for a VAT refund of Pounds 14,000 in March this year for payments to AM Films. The deal's scrutiny led to the Revenue & Customs Criminal Investigation Team pointing out loopholes in the contract awarded to AM Films.

In a letter dated June 7 to the Indian High Commissioner Nalin Surie, Meera Rajah of Revenue & Customs said there was no written contract between the CWG and the UK-based AM Films, no tendering procedure was followed, and no paperwork regarding the contract was done.

A release issued by OC secretary-general Lalit K Bhanot stated, "The OC firmly refutes allegations of financial irregularities with relation to the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay...we have followed due diligence in making all payments, getting the clearances from the Executive Board and from Reserve Bank of India for incurring the expenditure in foreign currency. All remittances happened against this clearance."

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit tersely told TV channels, "We will look into the matter."

The discrepancies show that while OC states that it transferred Pounds 2,47,469 to account no. 22701021 (Sort Code 151000) with Royal Bank of Scotland for video equipment purchased, AM Films has claimed that it provided services of "car hire, make-shift toilets, barriers and electricity". The differing versions and investigations of lack of procedures, raised the alarm. British officials also met Indian High Commission officials on June 14.

India's Deputy High Commissioner in London R N Prasad's letter (dated June 14), a copy of which is with TIMES NOW, to the sports ministry and the MEA seeks advice on the reply to be given to the UK government. This letter and its details are now with ED, which launched investigations into the deal on July 21.

The question raised by UK authorities is whether AM Films, which is supposed to have supplied video equipment, but which supplied cars for rentals as per its own admission, is now providing consultancy for costume designing for which it is receiving Pounds 25,000 per month.

An internal note on June 14 by Rahul Srivastava, first secretary in the high commission in London, states that AM Films is a one-man company owned by Ashish Patel, aka Ash Patel, who has been introduced to T S Darbari and Sanjay Mahendroo of the OC.

Darbari, director, corporate strategy in the Organizing Committee (OC), was recently suspended after a Customs complaint in India but was reinstated after the intervention of OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi through a letter written to Union sports minister M S Gill on April 29, 2010. With the CVC spotlight on CWG deals, the latest disclosures are likely to add to the discomfiture of the CWG brass.

TOI

Sorry for skipping CWG: Bolt to India

2010-07-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

JAIPUR: Usain Bolt on Thursday apologised to Indian fans for his decision to skip the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. In an exclusive interview to TOI, world's best sprinter, and perhaps the greatest ever, also hoped that he would one day be able to make up for it.

"Sorry that I can't make it this time. Hope to see you in the future," Bolt said in a message to the Indian fans, in reply to a query from TOI.

Bolt, who holds the world record in 100m as well as 200m, was expected to be part of the Jamaican squad for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games set to be held in October.

His name was also included in the initial list of the Jamaican squad. However, his agent made it clear some days ago that Bolt would give Delhi Games a skip.

Bolt said in his latest interview to TOI on Thursday: "It would have been nice as I haven't competed in the Commonwealth Games before but the timing was wrong for me."

TOI

Excerpts from the interview:

What is the current status of your Achilles tendon injury?

It is much better now, almost healed. It is not bothering me at all at the moment and should be perfectly fine soon.

You weren't very happy with your recent race in Paris GP. Which aspect bothered you?

Actually I was quite happy with the fact that I had won it. However, I found that my strength was down due to missed training and that was a matter of concern. But then I am now trying to catch up and I hope by my next race, I would have corrected that.

Justin Gatlin is set to return next month. What do you expect from him?

To tell you the truth, I have no idea as I do not know how he has been training.

The Commonwealth Games in New Delhi was never in your focus, yet is there any disappointment in missing it?

It would have been really nice as I haven't competed in the Commonwealth Games before but the timing was all wrong for me as I need to get ready for the World Championships in 2011 and Olympic Games in 2012. Those two events are very important and all athletes focus on them. It is crucial that we remain in peak shape for them.

Was there any pressure on you to participate in the Commonwealth Games?

No, I wouldn't say there was any pressure. In fact, I wasn't thinking about it. It was up to my coach to make the decision based on what is best for my career. I am sure he made the right decision.

Indian fans are very disappointed that you won't be coming.

I am really sorry that I can't make it this time. As I said, it would have been really nice and I do hope to see you in the future.

What timings are you looking at before the season gets over?

I am confirmed in 3 races as of now - Stockholm, Zurich and Brussels. There will be good competition in all these races and I do hope to have some good timings.

Are you satisfied with the way the season has shaped up so far?

Yes, I think so. My aim before the season was to go through it unbeaten and so far I have managed to keep it that way. It has been good.

You are likely to face Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell in Stockholm. How important is that race?

It will be a good race. It will be the first time this year that all three of us will run together in the same race. The competition will be good and each one of us will be tested.

You are a passionate follower of cricket. How would you compare Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara?

They each bring different styles to the game and each are masters of their specific craft. They have helped to keep cricket popular, especially in their respective regions.

Would you be willing to visit India for some competition at a later date?

Absolutely. I do hope I get to visit India one day in the near future.

Govt not to fix responsibility for CWG 2010 delays

2010-07-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

STAFF WRITER 15:57 HRS IST

New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI) The delay in infrastructure construction which marred the build-up to the Commonwealth Games may have irked many and dented India's international reputation but the government does not plan to fix any responsibility for it.

The delays have led to a situation where work is being done at break-neck pace to ensure completion of the venues and other infrastructure.

Asked whether there would be any accountability for it in the Lok Sabha today, Minister of State for Sports Pratik Prakashbapu Patil merely said,"No, madam."

The government does, however, plan to maintain a vigil over the construction work being carried out for the October 3 to 14 event.

"The works of the Commonwealth games are being intensively monitored at various levels of the government," Patil said.

"Most of the sports-related projects related to the Commonwealth games have been completed.

Bindra, Saina among 6 brand ambassadors for Commonwealth Games

2010-07-27T05:46:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and boxing hero Vijender Singh are among the half a dozen sportspersons who were on Tuesday named brand ambassadors for this year's Commonwealth Games.

Best athlete of the 2006 Commonwealth Games Samaresh Jung, Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar and four-time world champion woman boxer M C Mary Kom are the other three brand ambassadors for Delhi 2010.

The six would be the faces of the Games to be held from October 3 to 14.

"These champions have done India proud with their achievements and will serve as remarkable Brand Ambassadors for the Games," Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi said at the inaugurations of the event's main venue Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

"Their passion, personality, and presence as well as their amazing pursuit of excellence truly reflect the vision of the Organising Committee. Their focus, mental strength and resilience make them role models, inspiring generations of Indians not just with their achievements but also with their work ethic, discipline and determination.

"It ties up with the ideals of the Organising Committee and I am sure these champions will inspire Indians to back the Commonwealth Games and take to Olympic sport," he added.

The 27-year-old Bindra won top honours in the 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Shooting Championship in Zagreb in 2006 and became the first Indian to clinch an individual gold medal at the Olympics.

He has also won two gold, a silver and a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Melbourne.

Barely 20, Saina began with a quarterfinal appearance at the Olympic Games and has since won three Super Series crowns in the past 12 months.

Air pistol expert Jung, 40, has won seven gold medals, three silver and a bronze in the last two editions of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Melbourne. His haul of five gold, a silver and a bronze in 2006 saw him being named for the David Dixon Award for the best athlete of the Games.

Before his middle weight category bronze in the Olympic Games, the 24-year-old Vijender won a silver in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games as well as bronze medals in the Asian Games at Doha in 2006. Last year, he became the first Indian boxer to clinch a medal at the World Amateur Championship by managing a bronze in Milan.

Sushil, 27, won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in 2008 and is a two-time bronze medal winner at the Asian Wrestling Championships in 2003 and 2008. He also has three gold medals at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Besides winning the World Championship crowns in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008, Mary Kom, 27, has claimed the Asian Championship as many as three times.

Having come back to the ring as a mother of twins, she is has been named the face of women's boxing by the International Boxing Association.

"We are at the cusp of staging the biggest sporting celebrations ever in India and I am confident that this squad of six Brand Ambassadors will find universal appeal across the nation. I believe that they will lend their charisma to ensure that the Games are a huge draw with the people," Kalmadi said.

TOI

Kalmadi calls Aiyar's remark against Games 'anti-naional'

2010-07-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Tuesday hit back at former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar for his scathing criticism of the upcoming event, saying the senior Congress leader's comments are "irresponsible" and "anti-national".

Aiyar today said he would be "unhappy" if the Commonwealth Games were a success and that only "evil" will patronise them.

Reacting to the statement, Kalmadi said, "No individual can spoil the Games. It is totally irresponsible and ridiculous statement from such a senior person, who has also headed the sports ministry earlier. No Indian national can speak like that.

"With the Commonwealth Games fast approaching, he should know his responsibilities and think before making such a statement. He is an elected member of Rajya Sabha and it is totally an anti-national statement from him.

"It was because of his openness that he was removed from the Sport Minister's post. If he would have been the minister, the Commonwealth Games would never have come to India," Kalmadi said.

Earlier in the day, Aiyar criticised the money being spent for the October mega-event and said he would be unhappy if the Games are a success.

"I am delighted in a way because rains are causing difficulties for the Commonwealth Games. Basically, I will be very unhappy, if the Games are successful because then they will start bringing Asian Games, Olympic Games and all these," he had told reporters outside Parliament House.
TOI

Games to run on Tata Motors vehicles

2010-07-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Tata Motors has struck a barter sponsorship deal wherein it will provide 1,800 new cars to organisers of Commonwealth Games to ferry athletes in lieu of its advertisements as a logistics solutions sponsor for the 12-day sporting event.

In a unique arrangement with the Commonwealth Games Committee it would provide these vehicles in exchange for association with the event and will take them back after the sporting event ends.

The cost of these vehicles is expected to in the range of Rs 140-150 crore. However, they will be sold after the sporting event through its used car business ‘Tata Motors Assured’. The value of the nearly fresh vehicles may depreciate by around 20% that could mean Tata Motors is getting the logistics sponsors rights for around Rs 30 crore.

Tata Motors refused to comment on the broader contours of the deal: “We are supplying these vehicles for advertisement benefits and would not like to disclose the commercial implication of the entire deal,” the Tata Motors spokesman said.

Tata Motors will supply 1,600 cars (Indica and Indigo) besides 100 Sumo Grandes and 50 Safaris from its sports utility vehicle stable. It will also supply 20 Wingers besides 30 trucks for the movement of players and organisers. Tata Motors is also providing complete transport solution to the ongoing Queen’s Baton Relay, with its flagship SUV Land Rover Discovery 4, Sumo Grandes and other vehicles being utilised for the country-wide event.

Other auto companies like Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar were also in the fray to supply vehicles but failed to get any supply contracts, as per the spokesman for the organising committee.

Meanwhile, luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz is also expected to provide around 50 vehicles—a mix of sedans and SUVs — for the Games that would be utilised for the movement of dignitaries and other important functionaries. The deal is yet to be finalised and company executives said that they are evaluating options for the games.

“The exact quantum of the deal would be determined by the class of vehicles that would be taken by the organisers. A final decision on the deal has not been taken yet,” a senior Mercedes-Benz India executive said.

ET