Ahead of CWG, Northern Ireland to send recce team

A 10-member Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council delegation led by chairman Robert McVeigh and secretary general Terry Crothers, are in the Capital on a two-day familiarisation visit in the run up to the Commonwealth Games, beginning here on October 3.

McVeigh, a former shooter himself, expressed confidence that the Games will be a big success. "I see the commitment from the Government of India and Delhi and the Organising Committee for Delhi to produce infrastructure and a Games that will make the city a major player in the world of sport in the future," he said.

The delegation was taken on a tour of the Games Village, the OC headquarters and a number of venues on Wednesday and among other things met OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi and other members of the top management. The delegation includes coaches Maggie Squires (archery), Northern Ireland Athletics high performance manager Jackie McKernan, Stephen Friel (boxing), Tom Causer (badminton), three-time Commonwealth Games cyclist Cormac Macann (cycling) and Nelson Lindsay (swimming).

Talking about his country's chances at the 2010 Games, McVeigh said they want to do better than the 2006 Games, where they won two silver medals. “We will have around 80 athletes in a team of 120 and will look to return better off than we did from Melbourne. And one the reasons is that the timing of the Games suits us, coming as it does towards the end of our summer,” he added.

Baton relay huge success
McVeigh added that the Queen's Baton was a memorable event for Northern Ireland. "We were able to take the Queen's Baton 2010 Delhi to all areas of Northern Ireland. It was also an opportunity for us to promote sport at large and Commonwealth Games in particular," he said.