Indian athlete Rani Yadav fails dope test at Commonwealth Games

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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'

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