Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010

Delhi CM involved in decisions leading to excessive spend

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Tue, 2 Aug 2011 23:11:00 -0700

The Delhi cabinet may be defending chief minister Sheila Dikshit by claiming she took only policy decisions while they were implemented by bureaucrats, but the CAG report clearly nails their lie.

The audit report has pointed out that Dikshit took certain important decisions which cost the government exchequer dear.

Whether it was to buy potted plants or use imported lights, the report claims these projects got through only after Dikshit's approval. This led to considerable avoidable expenditure, the report states.

For example, agencies under the Delhi government spent Rs 24 crore on potted plants. The objective was to decorate and turn green the venues with these plants. But it had to be abandoned after the Delhi Police raised security concerns.

In August 2008, when the Delhi chief secretary had sought the immediate approval of the CM to create a large pool of potted plants, Dikshit had approved it.

"We could not find any venue- wise break- up of the plants required or any other yardstick in support of the assessment of the requirement of the plants," the report said.

The Delhi government had sanctioned Rs 28 crore for this project.

It was found that most of the potted plants were procured instead of being created in the departmental nurseries as was originally envisaged.

The city police commissioner, meanwhile, intimated the government that the plants were kept away from the venues and the routes because of security concerns. But the report found that the plants were procured even after this intimation.

The PWD said after the Games, about 79,000 of the 3.82 lakh potted plants procured by them, perished because they were seasonal ones. The rest were distributed among various government offices. Surprisingly, when the audit team visited two of those sites at random, they could not find any of the over three lakh potted plants said to have been issued by the PWD. Similar is the case of the imported luminaries. Sample luminaries of some of the leading manufacturers - both imported and indigenous ones - were shown to the CM. Based on the inspection and approval of Dikshit, the PWD decided to use the imported ones, and the MCD and the NDMC also followed suit. The PWD, incidentally, comes under Dikshit's supervision.

All three executed the street lighting project on about an 800 km-stretch at a tendered cost of Rs 286 crore.

Claiming that Dikshit's decision led to wasteful expenditure of Rs 31.07 crore, the report said: "The technical specifications did not distinguish between indigenous and imported luminaries.

The imported ones were procured at a far higher cost, leading to avoidable extra expenditure of Rs 31.07 crore." Their technical specifications were, in fact, identical, the report added.

Dikshit had said in February 2006 that the Capital should have state-of-the-art road signages for the Games. The project was then taken up by the state's PWD. The CAG report said the design modifications were of little utility and the manner of implementation uneconomical, leading to a higher cost of execution. These extra and substituted items led to an additional avoidable expenditure of Rs 14.88 crore.

The CAG report also highlights how private firm IL& FS was paid an exorbitant amount to remove debris from some CWG sites. Satya Prakash and Brothers Private Ltd was awarded the contract for removing the debris at Rs 73.42 per metric ton, but didn't clear it from some sites. IL& FS was roped in to clear the debris and paid Rs 280.32 per metric ton. The government also was unable to recover the cost from the defaulting contractor.

This gains significance as the BJP has accused Dikshit of favouring IL& FS as she reportedly had a relative holding a senior post in the firm.

Chinese hacked CWG data for months

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 1 Aug 2011 23:08:00 -0700

Among the spate of cyber attacks on Indian targets ahead of the October 2010 Commonwealth Games was one that was much more purposeful than others intended to deface sites related to the event.

A possibly state-authored attack on an Indian government agency successfully breached defences and the intrusion lasted one month in September and was repeated in November.

The attack was discovered when a foreign firm specialising in cyber security found a command and control centre used by the intruders and traced logs going back to 2006. The intrusion into the unnamed Indian agency was detected from the centre and was seen to be part of a well-targeted effort to access confidential data.

After the CWG, Indian authorities said hundreds of cyber attacks from Chinese and Pakistani hackers were repulsed. These were largely aimed at sites like the one carrying events and news of the sporting event while some of the attacks were aimed at the scoring and timing programmes. The one detected by the cyber solutions firm McAfee was part of an operation called 'Shady RAT' by investigators and was seen to be Chinese controlled.

There were cyber intrusions into several official sites including PMO and cabinet secretariat earlier in 2010 which were also tracked to Chinese hackers. Aimed at official sites ending with .nic.in addresses, the hacking was not as systematic and was largely random. Officials said the hacking did not touch the secure office intranet that is used within PMO and other sensitive offices.

What is surprising is that the September 2010 intrusion lasted two months with an interval in between. Depending on the sensitivity of the agency involved, the slip might have been costly as the study showed that more than 70 victims of the covert programme led to loss of a massive amount of data. Most of the victims were American government offices and businesses while the interest of the hackers in certain western and Asian Olympic associations just before the Beijing Olympics and in Taiwan suggested a Chinese origin, although the study did not name any entity.

Oludamola tested positive for banned substance

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 02:01:00 -0700

Nigeria's Oludamola Osayomi, who got the gold medal in the women's 100 metres at the Commonwealth Games here on October 7, has tested positive for a banned stimulant.

The Nigerian sprinter, who initially finished second in the 100 but was awarded the gold when Australia's Sally Pearson was disqualified for a false start, tested positive for the banned stimulant Methylexanemine, Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell said Monday.

"Any positive test, whether it is in a high-profile event or not, is something that is very much regretted for a clean games, clean sport and a clean competition," Fennell said, adding that no decision had been made on the medals. "One doesn't know what kind of damage will occur as the result of this test but we just want to let everyone know that we are very vigilant and the testing and laboratory analysis is of the highest standards."

Fennell said Oludamola has been notified of the adverse finding and has requested the testing of her "B" sample.

"This is something we just have to work with and make sure that we do our part in monitoring and eliminating doping in sport," Fennell said.

Elias Gora, the Nigerian team's chef de mission, said he had not yet been informed of the positive test.

"But if the allegations are true it's most unfortunate for us," Gora told The Associated Press. "I'm disappointed and I'm sure people back home will also be disappointed, too."

Gora also said that all Nigerian athletes were given tests prior to the games except those that were in the United States or Europe.

"Since Oludamola was in the U.S. she didn't go through the process," Gora said.

The World Anti-Doping Agency recently loosened the classification of Methylexanemine 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 Methylexanemine was sold as a medicine until the early 1970s and has now reappeared in some nutritional supplements and cooking oils.

About a dozen Indian athletes who were to compete at the Commonwealth Games tested positive for the drug in recent months.

They were suspended by the national anti-doping agency, but that was revoked after WADA reclassified the drug. However, not all the athletes have been cleared for participation. The next date for their hearing is Oct. 21.

Fennell said Oludamola's result was the first positive test of the games.

"We have conducted over 900 tests to date and we've had results from just over 700," Fennell said. "But unfortunately I have to record and report to you that we've had a positive result."

Pearson originally crossed first in the 100 final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in 11.28 seconds. But hours after celebrating her victory, the Australian sprinter — an Olympic hurdles silver medalist — was disqualified for the false start.

Oludamola was then given the gold medal, and Natasha Mayers of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was moved up to silver.

If Oludamola is stripped of the medal, then Mayers would stand to claim the gold. Katherine Endacott of England, who crossed fourth in the race but received the bronze medal after the disqualification, would then be moved up to silver and Bertille Delphine Atangana of Cameroon would get bronze.

Oludamola also ran in the semifinals of the 200 on Sunday, but failed to advance after finishing fourth in her heat with a time of 23.95 seconds.

India wins 5 Golds, gets back to second position

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 11:12:00 -0700

With 29 Gold, 22 Silver, and 22 Bronze medals till late Sunday evening, India held on to its second position on the seventh day of the ongoing XIX Commonwealth Games here.

The last Gold medal of the total five won today, came through Tennis, as India's Somdev Devvarman defeated Australia's Greg John in straight sets in the final match of Men's singles with the scoreboard reading 6-4,6-2.

In another crucial match, Indian hockey team cruised into the second Semi Final on Sunday evening, as it registered a convincing win over arch rival Pakistan beating it with 7-4 score in the Quarter Final match.

India will play against England in the second semi-final match of Men's hockey competition on Monday.

In a do or die pool match against Pakistan, India defeated them this evening decisively in every sphere of the game. eanwhile, earlier in the day, it was the turn of the Indian Archers, wrestlers and shooters to make a splash.

Archers won two gold medals helping the hosts to maintain the second position in the overall Medals tally.

In free style wrestling, world champion Sushil kumar grabbed the gold in 66 kilogram category outwitting his opponent Heinrich Barnes of South Africa.

With 29 gold medals in kitty, India are just 1 short of their best-ever performance in the Commonwealth games, which happened in Manchester 8 years ago.

The sterling performance of the athletes in the current 19th edition of the games has seen India bettering their 2006 Melbourne games record which had a haul of 22 gold.

Australia continues to dominate the Games, with 60 gold and England are in the third position with 25 gold medals.

The first gold of the day for India came when Indian Woman archer Deepika Kumari won the recurve category. Deepika defeated England's Elison Williamson in the final.

A victorious Deepika said she had put in her best to grab the gold. Dola Banerjee won a bronze in the same event.

After Deepika's win, it was Rahul Banerjee's turn to win the gold in the men's recurve event. Rahul defeated Canada's Jason Lyson. The bronze in the event went to India's Jayanta Talukdar.

Harpreet Singh gave India another gold in the Men's 25 metres Centrefire pistol shooting. He said despite stiff competition, he managed to wrest the gold. Vijay Kumar added a silver in the same event.

In trapshooting, Manavjeet singh Sandhu bagged a bronze.

In freestyle wrestling, India's Anuj Kumar managed to get a silver medal after losing to Pakistan's Mohammed Inam in the 84 kilogram category. Anil kumar grabbed the bronze in the 55 kg wrestling. The gold went to Azhar Hussain of Pakistan and it was the first gold for them. Joginder Kumar has also won a silver in the super heavy weight category of wrestling.

In Boxing, Jai Bhagwan and Dilbagh Singh have entered the semifinals, while 2006 games gold medalist Akhil kumar suffered a shock defeat.

In women's 112 kilometres Cycling race, the gold and silver went to Australia while New Zealand bagged the bronze.

In the discus throw event, Vikas Gowda bagged a Silver medal.

Australia tops the medal tally with 132 medals; 61 Gold, 36 Silver and 35 Bronze, India is on second position with its 73 medals; 29 Gold, 22 Silver and 22 Bronze medals and England remains on third position with 100 medals; 25 gold 45 silver and 30 bronze medals.

India beat Pakistan 7-4, to meet England in semifinal

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 11:02:00 -0700

India crushed Pakistan 7-4 to storm into the semifinals of the men's hockey competition at the 19th Commonwealth Games here Sunday.

India finished second behind Australia in Pool A with nine points and take on Pool B toppers England in the semifinal here Tuesday. Australia face New Zealand in the other semifinal.

Earlier, Australia romped to their fourth win by soundly thrashing Malaysia 7-0 while England overcame South Africa 2-1 and Canada came within two minutes of making the semi-final grade, but eventually drew 1-1 with New Zealand.

Indeed, India put on a dazzling display befitting royalty and in the presence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as they ran circles around Pakistan, who were done in by the aggression, slick passing and clinical finish of the home team.

Penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh started the Indian party with two conversions first up (2nd, 11th), followed by Shivendra Singh (19th and 59th), Saravanjit Singh (20th), Dhanish Mujataba (40th) and Dharamvir Singh (46th).

On their part, Pakistan showed only flashes of brilliance and their famed fighting spirit to knock in two goals by Muhammad Imran (27th) and Mumahmmad Rizwan (30th) in a space of three minutes. Irfan Muhammad (57th) and Shakeel Abbasi (67th) were the other scorers.

India could not have hoped for a better start than five penalty corners within 11 minutes and Sandeep converted the first and fifth.

The Pakistan defence was at sixes and sevens in the face of the furious Indian onslaughts as virtually every penetration by the home forwards resulted in a penalty corner.

Past the 19th, Sandeep unleashed a brilliant left-to-right diagonal long shot that Shivendra, positioned behind the Pakistani defenders flicked home to put India 3-0 in the lead.

A minute later, Sarvanjit was lying handy to push home a poor clearance from the sixth penalty corner and the packed stands went into frenzied celebrations.

Thus, a 4-0 lead in just 20 minutes was simply unbelievable, but it accurately reflected India's dominance that left the Pakistanis all but shell-shocked.

But not for long as Pakistan earned their second penalty corner in the 26th minute and Rehan Butt's rebound attempt struck Vikram Pillay on the foot leading to a penalty stroke that Imran converted and Pakistan were in the hunt.

Three minutes later Rizwan got a deflection to Irfan's cross hit from the right as Pakistan reduced the leeway.

In the final minute of the half, India received two back-to-back penalty corners, their seventh and eighth, but could not convert. Pakistan protested both the awards while the Indians claimed a penalty stroke off the second, but their pleas were rejected.

Pakistan began the second-half far more confidently and a couple of chances came their way, but were wasted.

It was not long before India got going and Mujtaba banged home a penalty corner rebound in the 40th and Dharamvir pushed home a Shivendra pass and India were up 6-2.

Pakistan pulled one back when Irfan flicked into net from a penalty corner, but India hit back with a stunning counter-attack that saw captain Rajpal Singh finding Shivendra with a through ball and the striker made no mistake with a powerful drive to goal.

With a four-goal cushion, India relaxed just a bit and it allowed Abbasi to streak in from the right and flick past goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri for the final goal of the night.

Somdev wins first Gold for India in tennis

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:58:00 -0700

Somdev Devvarman ended India's week-long wait for a gold in tennis by outclassing Australia's Greg Jones 6-4, 6-2 in the men's singles competition of the Commonwealth Games before a deafening home crowd here Sunday.

The 25-year-old Indian also became the first player to win the men's singles gold in Commonwealth Games tennis, which made its debut in this edition. Australia's Matt Ebden won the bronze.

The US-based Somdev went sprawling on the ground after Jones' forehand sailed through on the match point and a packed stadium rose to give him a standing ovation. Cries of 'Somdev' reverberated in the air. The young Indian thanked the adulating crowd by bowing round the court with a namaste during the prize distribution ceremony.

The stakes were high for Somdev and he did it is style after India's gold medal hopes were quashed in the men's doubles with the loss of leading lights Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the semifinal, who had to settle for a bronze.

Sania Mirza, despite putting up a brave fight, could not stop Australia's Anastasia Rodionova from clinching the gold in the women's singles. Later Sania, partnering Rushmi Chakravarthi claimed the women's doubles bronze with a 6-4, 6-2 win over compatriots Nirupama Sanjeev and Poojashree Venkatesha here Sunday.

Somdev did not disaapoint the tennis fans.

'I took my chances. I am happy to win a gold for my country. It is a great honour for me to represent my country in international events. I will be happy to do it again,' Somdev said.

'People underestimate how tough it is to get a gold medal. I worked really hard this week. It is one of the best things in my career for sure, to win a gold medal in front of this kind of crowd.'

Jones, 21, was gracious in defeat. 'Somdev is a good player. He serves well. The accumulated pressure didn't let me play well. I don't think I was really that comfortable out there,' he said.

The 97th-ranked Indian made a quiet start and cleverly kept the ball in play as the towering Australian, ranked 234, went for ambitious hitting in trying to be aggressive. The Indian also muffled Jones' strategy to bring him to the net with some delectable passing shots as he dictated from the baseline.

After failing to convert three break points in the fifth game and saving one on his serve immediately, the 25-year-old Indian effected the decisive break in the seventh game. A whipping backhand pass set up the breakpoint and an erratic forehand crosscourt from Jones gifted the break to the Indian, who then served out the set with an easy put away to a deafening roar from the stands.

Jones after stretching for a forehand volley at 15-30 in the first game of the second set felt some discomfort in his knee and called for a trainer. He was soon back only to meet a belligerent Indian, who gave away nothing, and the Australian could do little but go through the motions.

However, serving for the match at 5-0, the nerves got the better of Somdev, and he dropped it.

'When you are serving a match out for your country it is not the easiest thing to do. I got a little bit nervous but I think I did well to hold back and hold serve at 5-2,' he said.

He served out the set in his next service game when Jones smacked a forehand long, exulting amidst a wildly cheering crowd.

Delhi Metro keeps up with Commonwealth Games rush

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 06:12:00 -0700

Notwithstanding the Commonwealth Games rush, Delhi Metro maintained a record punctuality of 99.88 per cent during the first week of the sporting extravaganza making over 2800 trips daily.

Delhi Metro, which provides connectivity to almost all the 11 stadia that host the Games, is running trains at an average frequency of 2.5 minutes starting October 3, when the Commonwealth Games began in the capital.

Though there were delays due to technical glitches during the past one week, Metro trains registered punctuality of 99.98 per cent during the week beginning October 3 and ending October 9.

This means out of the 19656 trips the 180-odd Metro trains made during the past week, only 24 trips were affected, a DMRC spokesman said.

The DMRC usually registers a punctuality rate of over 99 per cent. The organisation regularly conducts punctuality audits every three months.

During the past one week, Metro trains made 2808 trips everyday traversing 58,000 kms, the spokesman said.

The DMRC had also deployed technical experts from South Korea and Germany to ensure that no technical glitch takes place during the Games.

The engineers are stationed at important stations, particularly on the Badarpur line which provides connectivity to the main Games venue of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Metro also registered additional ridership during the past one week as majority of the people going to stadia opted for the new age transport system to reach the venues.

People, who had bought CWG tickets, can take a free ride on the Metro.

Commonwealth Games medals tally: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Tue, 5 Oct 2010 08:37:00 -0700

Click here to see Day 1 medals tally.

2nd Gold for Canada in Commonwealth Games

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Tue, 5 Oct 2010 06:02:00 -0700

Weightlifter Marilou Dozois-Prevost of Montreal outduelled Onyeka Azike of Nigeria on Tuesday to win Canada's second gold medal of the Commonwealth Games in the women's 53-kilogram weight class.

Dozois-Prevost lifted 82 kilograms in the snatch portion of the competition and 100 kilograms in the clean-and-jerk, to narrowly defeat the Nigerian in what was a two-woman competition for the top two podium spots.

The 24-year-old student at Universite du Quebec a Montreal won silver in the same competition at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and was 10th in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

Meanwhile, Canada also won a bronze medal on Tuesday in artistic gymnastics, taking third place in the women's team event.

The five-member team picked up 154.75 points, which was just behind Australia (163.7) and England (158.2).

"It's very cool to win a medal. It's awesome. I'm so happy with bronze," said team member Catherine Dion of Gatineau, Que.

"Everyone's taking pictures. Everyone wants to talk to us. I'm so proud of the team."

The other members of the Canadian team were Kristin Klarenback of Edmonton, Cynthia Lemieux-Guillemette of Greenfield Park, Que., and Emma Willis of Sarnia, Ont., who competed in all four events, and Gabby May of Winnipeg, who performed in the vault, bars and floor.

India picks up 3 Golds in wrestling

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Tue, 5 Oct 2010 05:56:00 -0700

Indian wrestlers on Tuesday produced a clinical display on the mat and made a clean sweep in the men's Greco-Roman style with Ravinder Singh, Sanjay and Anil Kumar clinching gold in their respective categories at the Commonwealth Games.

Young Ravinder started the gold rush for India, bagging the first yellow metal in wrestling in the 60kg category, beating England's Christopher Terence Bosson 7-2 in front of the sparse but cheering crowd at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.

Sanjay followed his compatriot's footsteps and got the better of South Africa's Brian Richard Addinall 2-0 in the 74kg category.

And then Anil made it three out of three for host country when he defeated Hassene Fkiri of Australia 6-0 in the summit clash of the 96kg to round off an excellent day in office for Indian grapplers.

But it all started with young Ravinder's gold. He was a picture of concentration against his English opponent as inspite of finding himself in difficult situations twice in the bout, he stood firm and came out with flying colours.

After some initial exchanges, Ravinder scored two quick points to end the opening round with a 2-0 lead.

But the real show of his character came in the second round when he found himself twice in a disadvantageous position but displayed sound technical acumen to pocket the encounter.

Right from the start, Ravinder was in his elements as he spanked Sri Lanka's ASSD Kumara 13-0 in his opening bout and then outclassed Nigerian Romeo Joseph 8-0 in the semifinals.

While Bosson had to be satisfied with silver in the 60kg division, the bronze went to Romeso James of Nigeria.

Just after Ravinder's feat, Sanjay gave the home fans more reasons to celebrate after beating South Africa's Brian Richard Addinall in the 74kg final to register India's second consecutive gold medal in wrestling.

Sanjay displayed a gritty performance and defeated his English opponent 2-0.

Against Addinall, Sanjay adopted a wait and watch policy and scored points whenever he got an opportunity. The Indian scored a point each in both the rounds to pocket his first Commonwealth Games gold.

Sanjay got the better of Samoa's Laupule Ekeroma 3-0 and Perefegha Kiribein of Nigeria 2-0 in his earlier two bouts.

If that was not enough, veteran Anil Kumar made it three out of three for India when he outclassed Australia's Hassene Fkiri in the final to win the gold in the 96kg.

Anil was by far the better wrestler on display and kept his calm to beat his Australian rival 6-0 in the aggressive title decider.

South Africa's Hugues Kakoma Bella-Lufu earned the silver in this category after Fkiri was stripped off the silver medal for indecent behaviour.

In the final bout against Sanjay, Fkiri was cautioned thrice by the umpire for dangerous play.

The Australian repeated the mistake again, forcing the umpire to disqualify him and asked to leave the mat. But while leaving Fkiri showed middle finger to his opponent and the judges which eventually cost him his silver medal.

Canada's Eric Feunekes, who lost to Hugues Kakoma in the bronze medal play-off bout, was awarded the bronze medal in Fkiri's place.

Earlier, Anil had a contrasting opening two bouts as he overpowered Mark Montogomery of Northern Ireland 13-0 in his first match of the day but later had to work hard to clinch a 3-1 victory over South African Hugues Kakoma in the semifinal.

Canada wins 2 bronze medals in Gymnastics

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Tue, 5 Oct 2010 02:40:00 -0700

Canada’s women gymnasts matched the men’s bronze-medal performance as they opened their Commonwealth Games competition Tuesday.

Australia, as expected, won a fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games women's team gold with England in second and Canada third.

Australia, with a total of 163.700 points, easily continued the path to gold that began in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

England scored 158.200, with Canada a close third at 154.750 points.

Australia fielded its A-team, as it prepared for the world championship in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in October 16.

England and Canada however chose not to send their leading stars to Delhi, an Agence France Presse report said.

The last three Games have seen the same podium result for the women's team event.

The top 24 men and top 24 women from the team events on Monday and Tuesday advance to the all-round finals, while the top eight men and top eight women advance to the individual apparatus finals at the 14,400-seat Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

Bindra, Narang get first Gold for India

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Tue, 5 Oct 2010 01:54:00 -0700

Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang have won the ten metre air rifle pairs to secure India’s first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

On the second day of competition the duo scored 1,193 points to beat their Games record and set the competition alight for the first time.

Bindra and Gagan were repeating their success, having taken the top prize in the same event at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.

In second place, England’s James Huckle and Kenny Parr scored 1,174, while Bangladesh took home the bronze medal with 1,173 on the scoreboard.

Bindra, who also won the pairs title alongside Sameer Ambekar in Manchester in 2002, said: “It gives us a good start and hopefully, we will have many more medals in the coming days.”

His words proved prophetic, with Anisa Syyed and Rahee Sarnobat won India’s second gold in the women’s 25 metre pistol pairs.

Their total of 1,156 points beat the 1,150 set by Australia in Manchester in 2002 to set a new Commonwealth Games record.

Weightlifters get India 4 medals on Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 11:06:00 -0700

Weightlifters brought India's first four medals at the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi on Monday. Soniya Chanu won a silver and Sandhya Rani Devi a bronze in the women's 48 kg category. Soon, Sukhen Dey and Srinivasa Rao Valluri came up with a similar performance in the men's 56 kg.

Badminton was a cakewalk, tennis saw a good day and table tennis produced a mixed bag. The women's hockey team survived a scare, while the swimmers crashed out.

Chanu had a total lift of 167 kg - 73 kg in snatch and 94 kg in the clean and jerk section.

Sandhya Rani had a total lift of 165 kg (snatch 70 kg, clean and jerk 95 kg).

The gold, the first medal of CWG 2010, went to Nigerian Augustina Nwaokolo, who also set a Commonwealth record. She had a total lift of 175kg, with 77kg in the snatch and 98kg in the clean and jerk sections.

Dey lifted a total of 252 kg (snatch 112, clean and jerk 140) for the silver while Srinivasa Rao claimed the bronze with an overall lift of 248 kg (snatch 107, clean and jerk 141).

It was a cakewalk for India in their opening pool D match in the badminton mixed team event with a 5-0 drubbing of Kenya at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

The Indian team, which won the bronze at Melbourne in 2006, are seeded second behind Malaysia. The hosts literally toyed with the Kenyans in front of a sizeable crowd.

Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal won their singles matches, and then Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas made took the doubles before Ashwini Ponappa and Aparna Balan teamed up to win and finally the mixed pair V Diju and Jwala Gutta made it a clean sweep.

India will face Barbados Tuesday and will play Wales and Scotland on successive days.

Tennis stars Leander Paes and Sania Mirza rounded off a successful opening day for India at the R K Khanna Tennis Complex winning their match dropping just one gameto Saint Lucia's Stacey Nykita Roheman and Alberton Richelieu to enter the mixed doubles quarterfinals.

Rohan Bopanna kicked off the day with an emphatic straight sets victory over Uganda's Robert Buyinza to sail into the last 16 of the men's singles and Rushmi Charkravathi soon made it two in a row for India, dropping only one game in beating Pinki Agnes Montlha of Lesotho.

Poojashree Venkatesha hardly broke sweat blanking Lesotho's Nthabiseng Eunicia Nqosa.

The only blemish in India's campaign was the loss of Bopanna and Nirupama Sanjeev in the mixed doubles first round to top seeds Paul Hanley and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia 3-6, 6-3, 3-6.

India had a mixed opening day in table tennis as the men breezed past island nation Vanuatu while the women lost one of their two group matches against New Zealand.

The Indian eves registered a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sri Lanka in the morning but lost 2-3 in a close match against the impressive New Zealanders later in the day at the Yamuna Sports Complex.

Four of the five New Zealand players are of Chinese origin.

The women's team, bronze medallists four years ago,is seeded fourth in the tournament.

The women's hockey competition also began Monday and India survived a scare against Scotland in pool A, salvaging a 1-1 draw after being down by a third minute goal.

The Scots were off to a great start when Holly Cram found the net in the third minute. India dominated the rest of the game, but missed chances until Jasjeet Kaur scored the equalizer in the 45th minute.

India's men's 4x100 metres freestyle relay swimming team qualified for the finals but finished sixth, as they had in the heats at the at the S.P.Mukherjee Aquatics Complex.

In the men's 50m backstroke, Badrinath Melkote clocked 27.52 secs to qualify for the semi-finals, but couldn't move any further.

Indian swimmers also failed to qualify in the women's 200m freestyle, men's 400m freestyle, women's 200m individual medley, men's 200m butterfly and women's 50m breaststroke.

Vijender, Suranjoy get first round bye

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 10:56:00 -0700

World No.1 Vijender Singh and Asian champion Suranjoy Singh got a first round bye Monday in the draw of lots in the boxing event at the Commonwealth Games here, while defending gold medallist Akhil Kumar would begin his campaign against Qadir Khan of Pakistan later this week.

Only two pugilists, Commonwealth champion Amandeep Singh and former Asian bronze medallist Manoj Kumar would be seen in action in the first round here Tuesday.

Amandeep Singh will take on Peter Warui of Kenya in the light fly weight 49kg category while Manoj faces Daniel Lassayo of Sierra Leone in the light welterweight 64kg category in the afternoon session.

Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist Vijender (75kg) will face Kenyan Dick Ombaka here Friday. Vijender will attempt to become the third Indian boxer after Akhil (2006) and Mohammad Ali Qamar (2002) to win a gold at the Commonwealth Games. In the last Games in Melbourne, Vijender won the silver.

For Akhil, the challenge will be to retain his gold in the bantam weight (56kg) against Qadir Khan in the opening round. Even if Akhil gets through the first round, he will face 20-year-old English boxer Iain Weaver, who had defeated the Indian in the very opening round of the Commonwealth Championships in March.

Suranjoy Singh will face Manyo Plange of Ghana in the second round of the fly weight (52kg) category while Jai Bhagwan, who also got a bye in the first round, will face Colan Caleb of Nauru in the second round of the light weight (60kg) division, Wednesday.

Nine-time national champion Dilbagh Singh (69kg) will throw his punches at Viliami Latu of Tonga and in the light weight 81kg, Arjuna awardee Dinesh Kumar will face Obed Mwakongo of England.

Indian archers dominate day 1 of Commonwealth Games

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 09:46:00 -0700

The wind changed its course at the Yamuna Sports Complex in the eastern fringes of the capital, but that did not break India's rhythm as the recurve archers adjusted to the condition to dominate the ranking round on the opening day of their event at the 19th Commonwealth Games here.

However, the ride wasn't so smooth for the compound archers as they had to fight it out against some of the best.

Rahul Banerjee and Jayanta Talukdar occupied the top two positions after returning scores of 679 points and 676 after two rounds of 36 arrows over a distance of 70m.

Cadet world champion Deepika Kumari pipped two-time Olympian and 2007 World Finals champion Dola Banerjee for the top spot in the women's recurve.

"Today, the wind direction was opposite (than in previous days). From the last few days, it was from left to right but today, it was from right to left. But we did well to adjust, I am really happy with the show," Indian chief coach Limba Ram said.

Teen sensation Deepika, fresh from her World Cup final stint in Edinburgh, was in her elements as she scored 662 points. Veteran Dola shot 658, while Naomi Anne Folkard of England was third with 642.

"I am feeling really good, its only the ranking round hopefully we will do well in the championship round as well," Deepika told reporters.

She also said England are going to give them the "biggest fight". India's third entry, Laishram Bombayla Devi, was ninth with 624.

In men's recurve, Canada's Jason Lyon was third with 674 while India's third entry Tarundeep Rai, back in the team after a slump in form, finished 13th.

The Sikkim archer, who represented India at the Athens Olympics 2004, shot 647 points.

World No 5 Talukdar said: "It makes me feel happy as it is my home ground and also the pressure is there. I feel confident today, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

"It feels great to play in your own country because the home cheer is there," the Guwahati archer told reporters.

There was a tie with Jayanta (Taulkdar) but I was three points higher then him. From tomorrow, there will be an elimination round which is very important."

In the team event, India topped with 1944 points, England was second with 1904 and Australia finished third with 1841.

CWG Hockey: Indian women held by Scotland

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 07:42:00 -0700

Reigning silver medalists India were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly Scotland in their opening Pool A match of the women's hockey event at the Commonwealth Games, at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Monday.

The Indians fought back from a 0-1 deficit and scored through Jasjeet Kaur Handa (45th minute) after Scotland took the lead in the third minute from a Holly Gram field goal.

The Indians had a mixed day in office, displaying contrasting hockey in both halves. While the home team looked out of sorts in the opening period, they dominated proceedings after the breather.

India looked clueless in the first half, sparkling only in patches, while the Scots were by far the better side on display as they combined well to put pressure on the opponent's defence on numerous occasions.

In front of a sparse crowd that gathered at the stadium, India conceded a goal early in the opening half, and from there on played the catch-up game in the rest of the half.

The less-fancied Scots surged ahead as early as in the third minute when Gram scored from a field goal from the left wing.

The Indians, however, got numerous opportunities to draw level but poor ball control and finishing let them down.

Stunned by the opening half goal, the Indians came out with purpose after the change of ends, which was evidently visible in their game.

They went all out, attacking from the onset, and their efforts bore fruit in the 45th minute when Handa drew parity with a field goal after a one-two with Ritu Rani.

Scotland got a great chance to restore their lead two minutes later but Samantha Judge's fierce strike from the top

of the Indian circle went agonisingly wide off the target.

However, in the final 10 minutes of the match, it was all India as the hosts made numerous raids into the rival citadel for the elusive winner but on all occasions, either luck or the stubborn Scottish defence, came in their way.

The draw against 21st ranked Scotland, however, is a disappointing result for the Indian eves, who are looking

forward to emulate their gold medal-winning feat in the 2002 Manchester Games, after having lost out on the opportunity in Melbourne fours years ago.

India next the face the mighty Australians while Scotland will be up against Trinidad and Tobago.

Meanwhile, in the other women's hockey matches of the day, New Zealand defeated Wales 5-1 in Pool B, South Africa trounced Trinidad and Tobago 12-0 in Pool A, while Malaysia beat Canada 3-2 in Pool B.

Australia bags 4X100 freestyle Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 06:16:00 -0700

A storming finish by teenager James Magnussen has helped Australia break the Commonwealth Games record and claim the 4x100m freestyle relay gold medal at Delhi.

The team of Kyle Richardson, Eamon Sullivan, Tommaso D'Orsogna and Magnussen clocked 3:13.92 to finish ahead of England (3:15.05) and South Africa (3:15.21).

The effort eclipsed the previous Games record of 3:14.97 set by South Africa in Melbourne 2006.

Former world record holder Eamon Sullivan's scorching second leg of 47.49 seconds moved a sluggish Australia from fourth to first.

D'Orsogna kept Australia in front until the final change before England's Adam Brown ambushed Magnussen.

The 19-year-old looked gone when Brown led at the final turn before he found another gear to seal Australia's third gold medal of the opening night in the pool.

It was a welcome relief for the Australian men in the swimming team, who have been forced to play second fiddle to their female counterparts in recent years.

Their lowest point came in the 2006 Melbourne Games, when the Australian men managed just one gold - in the 4x100m medley relay on the final night of competition.

That trend looked set to continue when red hot favourite Nick D'Arcy failed to make the 200m butterfly final.

Then Ryan Napoleon - who overcame a drug ban and Delhi belly to make the 400m freestyle final - was pipped at the post by Canada's Ryan Cochrane.

Olympic silver medalist Sullivan said the men's team had been inspired to earn their first gold medal of the Games following D'Arcy's debacle.

"After a bit of a shock with D'Arcy missing the final, we wanted to come out and produce the goods and set the tone for the rest of the meet for the guys," he said.

"That's what we have got to carry through for the rest of the meet."

Commonwealth Games medals tally: Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 04:39:00 -0700

Commonwealth Games medals tally at the end of Day 1:

Click here to see day 1 results.

Click here to see Commonwealth Games medals tally at the end of day 2.

Kylie Palmer gets first swimming Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 04:17:00 -0700

y 1 Australian swimmer Kylie Palmer has collected the first swimming gold medal at New Delhi 2010, winning the women's 200-meter freestyle in one of the highest-profile sports at the Commonwealth Games.

Palmer finished in 1 minute, 57.50 seconds, with Jazmin Carlin of Wales earning silver in 1:58.29 and Rebecca Adlington of England, the 400- and 800-meter Olympic champion, taking bronze in 1:58.47.

Four more swimming gold medals were to be awarded later Monday and 44 overall in the six-day program at the Dr. Dr. S. P. Mukherjee Aquatics Complex.

South Africa picks up 2 medals in swimming

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 04:02:00 -0700

Team South Africa have got their medals tally off to a flying start on the opening day of competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi by earning two medals in swimming events.

(Click here to see Day 1 medals tally)

Durban matric pupil Chad Le Clos won the country’s first medal of the competition with victory on the 200m butterfly.

Swimming in lane two Le Clos burst through from nowhere in the final lap to touch first, upstaging a field that included teammate Sebastien Rousseau and England swimmers Paul Rock and Peter Roebuck.

The 18-year-old Le Clos, who competed in his first European galas only last year, was well out of the top three throughout the race, although Rouseau was third going into the final turn.

The South African 4x100m freestyle relay team earned bronze.

The relay team, victors at the 2006 Games in Melbourne, were beaten into third place by Australia and England, but they at least ensured a relay medal for SA for the third successive Games. They won silver in Manchester 2002.

Cochrane wins 400m freestyle Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 03:58:00 -0700

Swimmer Ryan Cochrane has won Canada's first medal at the Commonwealth Games. And it's a gold.

Cochrane, of Victoria, won the men's 400-metre freestyle in a time of three minutes, 48.48 seconds Monday.

Winning a medal at the Commonwealth Games is special to Cochrane.

His first big international competition was four years ago at the Melbourne, Australia, Commonwealth Games.

Since then Cochrane has won an Olympic bronze medal and two world championship medals.

Click here to see Commonwealth Games medals tally: Day1

Rock bands to perform at Commonwealth Games village

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 03:48:00 -0700

A number of popular rock bands including Indian Ocean and famed singers like Daler Mehndi and Hariharan are likely to give a series of dazzling performances for over a week at the Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi. Rock n' roll band 'Them Clones' is likely to perform today followed by East India Company tomorrow and Pentagram, led by Bollywood music composer Vishal Dadlani, the day after.

On October 7, the band 'Soul Mate' will hit the stage while Mohit Chauhan of 'Masakali' fame, singer Daler Mehndi and Palash Sen's Euphoria will perform October 8, 9 and 10.

Singer Hariharan and world famous percussionist Sivamani will showcase their talents on October 12. Grammy Award nominated film composer and jazz musician Louiz Banks will also perform on the same day.

Meanwhile, Indian Ocean, a contemporary fusion music band from Delhi, will cast its spell in amphitheater here on October 13. These cultural programmes are a part of 'Delhi Celebrates', planned out by both the state and central governments to showcase the wonders of India's music during the Commonwealth Games, which began here yesterday.

"Delhi Celebrates will bring together more than 5,000 artists and performers from all over the country and across the Commonwealth in what shall be Delhi's most exhilarating festival of art and culture," Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.

Many cultural events will be showcased at INA, Connaught Place, Kamani and FICCI Auditorium, Qutub Minar Complex besides others. A festival of Mushairas, Ghazals and Qawallis 'Jashn-e-Delhi' will also be organised from today to October 7 at Town Hall Lawn, Chandni Chowk.

The sporting extravaganza will end on October 14.

Special train to Agra for Commonwealth Games participants

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 03:32:00 -0700

The Railways will run a special Shatabdi train from Delhi to Agra to enable participants and officials of the Commonwealth Games visit Taj Mahal and other monuments.

The train will leave New Delhi at 7:55am and reach Agra at 10.40am. In return direction, it will leave Agra at 5pm.

"On arrival at Agra, 20 buses arranged by the Railways will take the visitors to various tourist spots, including the Taj Mahal, in the city," Devesh Mishra, divisional manager, told reporters here.

The train, which will have 9 coaches including one reserved for physically handicapped, will run from Wednesday till the end of Games. Around 550 passengers are expected to travel on the train everyday, he said.

Mishra said security at the Agra cantonment station is being tightened and more infrastructure developed including enquiry counters, train indication and coach display boards and video enquiry system.

Bopanna, Sanjeev defeated by Aussie pair

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 02:55:00 -0700

Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna had to face defeat with his partner Nirupama Sanjeev against the Australian pair of Anastasia Rodionova and Paul Hanley in the mixed doubles at the Commonwealth Games here on Monday.

They lost the match by 3-6,6-3,3-6 score.

Earlier, Bopanna defeated Robert Buyinza of Uganda with 6-1,6-4 in the men's singles tennis event.

On Sunday, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Prince Charles jointly inaugurated the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital.

The opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games was marked by a multicrore cultural extravaganza, dance, music and fireworks.

It was a magnificent opening that offered a glimpse of India's great heritage and tradition through a light, music and dance show, which led to the opening of the 11-day sporting extravaganza.

Nigeria gets first CWG Gold, India gets Silver & Bronze

noreply@blogger.com (Sachin) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 02:23:00 -0700

Nigerian weightlifter Augustina Nwakolo scooped the first gold medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games on Monday, dashing hosts India's hopes of claiming it for themselves.

The 17-year-old jumped into the arms of her coach to celebrate her victory in the women's 48kg category, which she nailed with Games records in both the snatch and clean and jerk for a total of 175kg.

Local hopes rested on Soniya Chanu's shoulders but she failed to match the Nigerian and had to settle for silver with 167kg ahead of compatriot Sandhya Rani Devi, who managed a combined 165kg.

Chanu cleared 167 kg to stand second in the event behind Nigerian woman Augustina Nwaokolo who hoisted 175 kg to win the contest. She also created a new Games record. Sandya Rani took the bronze with a total clearance of 165 kg.

Chanu and Nwaokolo were tied with the same clearance of 94 kg in the snatch competition but the latter, who weighed marginally less than the Indian woman, settled the issue in the clean and jerk category by clearing 8 kgs more.