pre-Commonwealth Games news

[Sealman]

C'wealth Games supremo Kalmadi goes AWOL

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/2010092...i-5bb9277.html

[undeadshot]

Hosts India, Scotland, Wales, Barbados and Kenya in Group D for CWG 2010

Thursday, September 23, 2010
Top seeds Malaysia have been drawn in Group A while hosts and No 2 seeds India have been drawn in Group D together with Scotland, Wales, Barbados and Kenya after the conclusion of the Commonwealth Games team draw in New Delhi on Thursday.

The Draw for the XIX Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 for the Badminton Team event took place at the residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, His Excellency, Mr. Tejendra Khanna, who was also present to witness the draw.
Malaysia, who is heavily favoured to win the team gold, will have Australia, Nigeria, Seychelles Islands and Isle of Man for company in Group A while Singapore, who are joint 3-4 seeds, are in Group B. The rest of the cast in Group B are New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Jamaica and Northern Ireland.
England, also 3-4 seeds, are in Group C and will have Canada, Mauritius, Uganda and Falklands Islands.
The other dignitaries present at the Draw ceremony were Mr. VK Verma, Director General of the CWG 2010 and also President of Badminton Association of India, Mr. Rakesh Behari, Principal Secretary to Lt. Governor and Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, OSD to Lt. Governor.
Verma welcomed those who were present and spoke on the preparations of the Commonwealth Games Badminton event and also mentioned that the venue for the event, Siri Fort Sports Complex is a legacy structure.
He also added that the same venue will be used to host the Badminton World Federation Super Series event in India next year. India will, for the first time, host one leg of the Super Series next year.
Broadcast live in India, His Excellency Mr tejendra Khanna also reiterated that the venue was of world class standard and was confident that the Games will be a spectacular success.

The Competition Manager, Mr. S. Muralidharan, then addressed the meeting and gave a report on the draw procedure. He declared that the competition management was all set to deliver the games.
Mr. Girish Natu and Mr. Rajiv Mehta conducted the draws and the lots were taken out by Mr. Tejendra Khanna.
For details of the Draw ceremony and Group Play Schedule, log on to http://www.bwfbadminton.org/page.aspx?id=14894


Source: http://www.bwfbadminton.org

[abedeng]

Been chatting with avataar for a number of days now ....... and he has indeed been busy catering to all those complaints and getting work done.

Basically avataar said that the Badminton/Squash stadium (Siri Fort) is among the better venues. I just hope that the cleanliness are up to scratch and there is no more swatting of flies on court ........

More popular sports to Indians get pretty decent venues too, such as hockey and tennis.

The rest of the venues are in different states of, err, progress ......

But there are issues in the final finishing .... eg. scoreboards/timing equipment that have not been installed in some venues. Thus no prior calibration and testing of equipment etc. Athletes are barred from practicing at certain venues, yes, including Indian athletes too.

The Games Village and venues has been spruced up (as much as they could). With the time limit, there is only so much that could be done. Just pray for no more mishaps.

This has been a huge and costly PR lesson to the Organizing Committee and the Indian Politicians.

[abedeng]

C'wealth Games supremo Kalmadi goes AWOL

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/2010092...i-5bb9277.html

Being sidelined by the politicians, no doubt.

[cobalt]

Commonwealth Games slideshow on the current status...
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/nphotos/sli...ain-venue.html

[madbad]

Nathan Robertson to carry England flag at Commonwealths. Chalk one down to badminton!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/comm...10/9050495.stm

[cobalt]

Commonwealth Games timeline

http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20101002...-timeline.html

[cobalt]

World number one Lee out to crack India jinx


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...ow/6671050.cms

NEW DELHI: Badminton world number one Lee Chong Wei plans to end his India jinx at the Commonwealth Games, boosted by a narrow victory over fierce rival Lin Dan at the Japan Open last week.

The Malaysian is the defending men's singles champion, but has a poor record in India, failing to win either the Indian Open or the World Championships last year.

"I am not one who believes in previous records and things like that," he told Indian media on his arrival late Friday.

"I always look forward to giving my best in every tournament I participate in. India is one of the few places I have not been able to win a title," he added.

"I want to change that record now. Hopefully the Commonwealth Games will help me set the record straight."

Lee's key threat here is likely to come from compatriot Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, who won the Commonwealth singles crown in 2002 at Manchester.

But the world's best player in top form heading into the Games having won the Japan Open late Sunday, overcoming China's Lin in a tight three-set final.

"That win over Lin was very satisfying. I was losing to him often before that memorable win last Sunday," said Lee.

"Some of his strokes are to be seen to be believed."

The men's singles competition in Delhi gets underway on October 9, with the tournament kicking off with the mixed team heats on Monday.

[ctjcad]

Nathan Robertson to carry England flag at Commonwealths. Chalk one down to badminton!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/comm...10/9050495.stm

..dude, who will be carrying that heavy flag pole and flag of Canada??..

[miksss]

Susan Egelstaff aims to add to her tally of Commonwealth Games medals when the action gets underway in Delhi.
The 27-year-old Scot won a singles bronze in Melbourne in 2006 and picked up a bronze in the team event in Manchester four years earlier.
"Training has been going really and I feel like I'm one of 10 or 12 girls in my event that have a chance," she said.
"But there is a big difference between having a chance and coming home with a medal round your neck."
On the fringes of the world top 30, Egelstaff should be in contention for a podium finish but the red-hot favourite for individual gold is India's Saina Nehwal.
The 20-year-old from Hyderabad is the first Indian woman to win a badminton Super Series title, the first to win three titles in succession on the world circuit, and the first to climb as high as world number two.
Malaysian Wong Mew Chew is also expected to do well.

full article here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/comm...10/9054278.stm


good luck Susan!

[cobalt]

Saina and Co look to better bronze show in team event


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...ow/6677446.cms

NEW DELHI: Saina Nehwal will have to lead by example while the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju will have to provide the push as Indian shuttlers take on some strong contenders in the Badminton team event of the Commonwealth Games starting here on Monday.

India are the top seed in group D, which comprises of Scotland, Wales, Barbados and Kenya and national coach Pullela Gopichand feels, in the kind of form Indian shuttlers are in, the hosts should at least make the finals.

India will take on a lowly Kenya in their first match at the Siri Fort Complex to set the ball rolling.

"The team is in very good form. All of us have worked really hard and they should back themselves to reach the finals at least," Gopichand said.

"However the road would not be easy with Malaysia, Singapore and England posing threat to India. But still I am hopeful that the team will do well and hopefully make it to the finals," he added.

At the Melbourne Games in 2006, India finished with a bronze medal at the mixed team event with then rising shuttler Saina Nehwal playing the crucial role to beat much higher-ranked shuttlers like Tracy Hallam of England.

To better their show on their home turf, India will look to get past Barbados on Tuesday and beat Wales and Scotland on Wednesday, beside looking for an outright win on Monday.

Saina, who would be a favourite to win gold in the women's singles, and Chetan Anand will carry the onus in the singles event.

Jwala will have a huge responsibility of not only winning the mixed doubles match with Diju but also inspiring her women's doubles partner Ashwini Poppanna against tougher opponents like Malaysia, Singapore and England.

World number 16th pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas will also have to raise their game, specially against Malaysia and England, in men's doubles.

"It will be difficult to win gold in team event as Malaysia, Singapore and England are very good. They have some wonderful doubles pairs and we will have to take one match at a time and decide the strategy accordingly," Saina said.

The top two teams in each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played on October 7. The semifinals will be held on the same day while the bronze-medal and gold-medal matches will be held on October 8. The individual events will start the next day.

Badminton was introduced in the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1966 in which Dinesh Khanna won a bronze medal for India.

Former All England champion Prakash Padukone was the first Indian to win a Commonwealth gold, at the 1978 Edmonton Games, and Syed Modi repeated the show in 1982 at Brisbane.

Gopichand, who is also an All England Champion, won a bronze at the Kuala Lumpur Games in 1998, while Chetan is the other bronze medallist, having won it in Melbourne four years ago.

[Thom_bad]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/comm...10/9052926.stm

Article from BBC

[madbad]

..dude, who will be carrying that heavy flag pole and flag of Canada??..

Ken Pereira, Field Hockey player

[jimbo]

Just curious, why the Msia flag bearer was neither LCW nor David Nicol? ... BOLEH...

[george@chongwei]

Just curious, why the Msia flag bearer was neither LCW nor David Nicol? ... BOLEH...

The flag bearer for malaysia yesterday stands a chance to win at least 3 gold medals i think

[jimbo]

The flag bearer for malaysia yesterday stands a chance to win at least 3 gold medals i think

wow... OK... it makes sense... so who is he? BOLEH....

[george@chongwei]

It's a she

lawn bowler Siti Zalina Ahmad, who will be chasing a hat-trick of women’s singles gold medal,

http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.a...c=commonwealth