India equals its best ever performance with 30 Gold medals on Day-8

India equalled its best ever performance in the Commonwealth Games with 30 Gold medals, as Discus Thrower Krishna Poonia bagging a historic Gold medal for the country in athletics after 58 years here today. India had achieved this feat of 30 Gold medals in the 2002 Manchester games for the first time.India’s other two Discus Throwers went on to make a clean sweep,of the event , bagging Silver and Bronze medals. Poonia’s throw was 61.51metres, Harwant Kaur claimed Siliver with a throw of 60.16m, while Seema Antil took Bronze with a best of 58.46.In boxing, Olympic Bronze medalist Vijendra Singh suffered a shock defeat in 75 kg category. Suronjoy Singh, Manoj Kumar and Paramjeet Somata have entered the finals in their respective weight categories.Jai Bhagwan, Amandeep Singh and Dilbagh Singh lost their bouts and had to settle for Bronze medals apiece today.

The first medal of the day for the hosts came in shooting as Tejaswini Sawant and Meena Kumari won bronze in women’s 50 meter Rifle Prone pairs.Sawant, later said, that she had hoped to win more than a Bronze in the competition.In Skeet pairs shooting, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and P Allan Danials finished fifth, as the Gold medal in this event was won by Cyprus.In Badminton, a host of Indian players moved into the quarter-finals of the individual badminton event on Monday, raising hopes of multiple medals from the badminton courts .India’s Saina Nehwal and Aditi Mutatkar advanced to the quarter-finals of the Women’s Singles event. World No.3 Saina defeated Caroline Black of Nigeria, 21-0,21-2 while Aditi defeated Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland 21-11, 21-17 in their respective matches.Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa pulled off a fine victory against Malaysian Eei Hui Chin and Woon Khe Wei 15-21, 21-10, 21-16 to advance into the last eight in women’s doubles.Aditi Mutatkar also moved into the women’s singles quarter-final with a 21-11, 21-17 victory over Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour. The Indian now faces second seeded Malaysian Mew Choo Wong.In men’s singles, Parupalli Kashyap got the better of Kieran Merrilees of Scotland 21-12, 21-5. Kashyap, too, will have a difficult opponent in fourth seeded Mohammad Hafiz Hashim in the quarter-final.

Top ranked Indian and third seed Chetan Anand defeated Jamie Van Hooijdonk of Wales 21-8, 21-2 in another third round match. He will take on England’s Carl Baxter in the evening session for a place in the semis.Mixed doubles second seeds Jwala Gutta and V. Diju defeated compatriots Rupesh Kumar and Ashwini Ponnappa 15-21, 21-18, 21-16.In Rugby, the Indian team, however, disappointed its fans as it lost the match against Wales by an embarrassing 7-53 score.In Weightlifting, one gold was to be decided on Monday night, in men’s 105 plus Kilogram weight category. Sarabjit carries the Indian medal hopes in this event.In Women’s Hockey, India defeated Canada 3-0 in a final classification match.In Table-Tennis, Indian duo, Sharad Kamal and Shubhjeet Saha ,have entered the Men’s Doubles quarter-finals by defeating Australia’s Justin Henn and Shimon Gerreda.With five more Bronze won on Monday India continued to hold on to its second position with 30 Gold, 23 Silver and 28 Bronze. England has 26 gold, 47 Silver and 34 bronze. However, Australia continues to head the table with a total haul of 62 Gold, 40 Silver and 39 Bronze medals.Meanwhile, the New Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games were hit by a doping controversy today in the same 100 meter Women’s event that earlier saw the disqualification of Australia’s Sally Pearson who was stripped off her medal for a false start.Oludamola Osayomi, a Nigerian Gold Medalist of women’s 100 meters, was tested positive in dope examination.

In the dope test methyle hexalimine stimulate was found. Addressing the customary press conference at Main Press Center, the President of the Games Federation Mr Michael Fennel said the athlete tested positive has requested for ‘B’ sample test and the hearing will be held later today.Meanwhile, the Organizing Committee Chairman, Suresh Kalmadi said today that big video screens will be put up during road events including Marathon and Cycling events along the route. He said cycling events will be held at Noida- Greater Noida Expressway and all arrangements have been completed.Indian players will also be seen in action in Table-tennis and Squash tonight.

Missing Shera replica found in UT village

Chandigarh crime branch sleuths tracked down Shera -- the official mascot of Commonwealth Games 2010  -- late Monday evening, hours after it went missing from the Verka Chowk in Mohali. The statue was found abandoned near a private school in Toga village of UT.

The crime branch officials found it following a tip-off and informed the SSP, Mohali, GPS Bhullar, immediately. The SSP directed the SHO of Phase-I police station to visit the place and collect the statue.

Earlier in a day, to fend off embarrassing queries like why were there no police personnel at Verka Chowk, which is considered to be the busiest intersection in the state, officials said Shera's replica would be replaced at the earliest. The mascot was stolen on Sunday.

Mohali deputy commissioner Parveen Kumar said a new statue would be installed in the next couple of days since its manufacturer, Abninder Singh Grewal had agreed to provide another statue 'free of cost'.

Scotland to emulate Indian Games experience in 2014

Taking a leaf out of the Indian experience, Scotland — the host of the next Commonwealth Games in 2014 — is all set to stage a similar "spectacular opening ceremony" at Glasgow. In New Delhi to participate in the Games, Scotland is not missing any opportunity to push hard business, economic, energy
and educational ties with India.

"The opening ceremony was spectacular," Alex Salmond, the first minister and head of the devolved Scottish Government said.

"We haven't made any plans for training facility for the athletes at the Games Village in Scotland. However, the Games Village here has it. So, we will try to have it in Glasgow as well," Salmond told HT.

Salmond said the Glasgow Games Village is planned as a pure residential area.

However, he said, since 70 per cent of the infrastructure is already there, there shouldn't be any delay in executing various projects.

Salmond is here to take part in the Games besides forging closer ties with India in various areas - from renewable energy to business and educational partnerships.

"Energy cooperation, especially in the renewable sector can be big. India has such a long coastline," he said.

Scotland has barely a quarter of Europe's offshore wind tidal energy.

An estimated 206 gigawatt of practical offshore wind, wave and tidal resources contribute 40 per cent of the total energy resources of UK, he said.

Salmond is set to meet Union Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Thursday.

So far, 16 major Scotland companies are operating in India, while 11 Indian big firms have their offices there.

"But the effort is to have more joint ventures and partnerships before the next Commonwealth Games" the minister said.

Vasant Kunj Flats Have Few Takers, OC Says Apartments Meant For Delegates Not Up To The Mark

The Vasant Kunj flats that were built for Commonwealth Games delegates seem to have no takers. Even as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) claims that it had 1,300 flats ready by September 23, only 620 people turned up to stay in them. In fact, according to officials working at the complex, even the national technical officials who were staying there have started leaving ``after having completed their work''.

Besides the Kaveri Tower, all other towers are far from being complete. On Friday, when Times City visited Vasant Kunj, the complex looked deserted. According to the guards, while the dining hall had been completed from the outside, a lot of work inside the hall remained incomplete.

In Saraswati Tower, where officials claimed that 90% of the work had been completed, iron rods could be seen jutting out from various flats. No landscaping work was done and several portions had been barricaded to hide away the under construction areas. An official said: "A lot of work could not be completed on time due to the heavy rains."

DDA claimed that it had handed over the flats to the Commonwealth Games organizing committee on September 23, and some volunteers had started living there from September 16. Said an official: ``We had 1,300 flats ready by September 23, which meant that 2,700 rooms were made available for the delegates. Only 620 of them are occupied at present. Some national technical officials, who had been staying in the flats earlier, were shifted. We do not know the reason behind this.''

Commonwealth Games 2010: England struggle to overhaul India into second place in Delhi

England is struggling to overhaul India for second place on the Commonwealth Games medal tally as leaders Australia claim superiority across most sports including the pool.

India has set itself a target to stay ahead of England as the two countries swap positions for second and third.

England has won a total of 105 medals by day eight of the Games, but has been relegated to third on the medal tally because of a deficiency of gold.

So far India is beating England because it has won 29 golds compared to England's 26. But on the total medal count England is superior with 105 to India's 74.

Australia is leading the medal tally with 137 medals, 61 of them gold. But in the sport of swimming - one of the few sports considered of world class standard and a litmus test of progression leading up to the London 2012 Olympic Games, Australia has claimed an early victory.

Australian head swim coach Leigh Nugent said his team had scored a psychological blow over the Home Nations even though England had secured its best away result with a tally of 34 medals, 11 more than Melbourne four years ago. Of the 34, England won seven gold medals and Scotland contributed two gold.

But Australia also improved its golden tally to 20 (up from 17 in Melbourne).

Nugent said the British team had "taken a big hit" in a critical time before the London Games and said the Brits would be shaken by the experience.

National performance director Michael Scott revealed the target for British swimmers had been exceeded by three medals.

He did, though, identify improvements which needed to be made, such as coming out on top in close races as well as starts and turns.

He said: "It was a challenging environment. I was pleased - our last two days were our strongest days."

England team leader John Atkinson was satisfied with his squad's effort which saw them exceed by five the target of 24 they had set based on world rankings, while the number of finalists had risen to 68. "We can go away really proud with what we've done," he said.

Commonwealth Games 2010: Delhi belly 'will not affect swimmers' performance pay'

British Swimming has promised the Home Nations' competitors who succumbed to Delhi belly last week that it will have their "interests at heart" when it reviews performance-related pay.

National performance director Michael Scott revealed that a dozen athletes, notably Fran Halsall who collapsed poolside, fell foul of mystery illnesses that swept through several nations' camps in New Delhi.

Athlete Personal Awards are made to swimmers on an annual basis and the money comes out of British Swimming's £25 million four-year purse issued by UK Sport, the government quango.

But British Swimming, the national governing body which viewed these Games as its priority meet of the year, stressed that no athlete would be at a disadvantage as London 2012 looms.

"We have an injury and illness clause in our policy," said the Australian, who took the helm at British Swimming in 2007. "I will get a report from the doctor on every athlete on whose performance has been impacted.

"I can guarantee you that I have already told the athletes their interest is at heart. We are not going to undo six to eight years of good years out here. If there is a legitimate illness, then this will be taken into consideration."

A British Swimming spokesman added: "There may be a case where athletes' funding is reviewed every six months as opposed to 12 months. In some aspects it gives the athletes more incentive to perform."

In the pool, Scott believed there were several areas where performances could be raised as they aim to bridge the gap on Australia, the second best nation in world swimming behind the United States.

He said: "We have to convert and improve technically - that's where the Australians showed us up. "

Britain, though, were rewarded with a combined haul of nine golds, 10 silver and 15 bronze in the pool at the Games.

The Australians secured seven medals less than 2006 but with England also improving their tally by six, it meant the gap between the two has considerably narrowed.

However Leigh Nugent, Australia's head coach, still had time to strike an early blow for Britain's chances in London 2012 before leaving Delhi. Nugent said: "Have a look at the scoreboard. I'd think they've taken a big hit here and that they'd have been shaken by their performance here."

Adlington countered: "They have always had that depth. Now we are coming after them and I think we've caught them up and we are going to start overtaking them."

Meanwhile, British Swimming has confirmed to Telegraph Sport that plans to stage the 2013 European Championships in London have been dropped.

Officials will look to accomodate the 2016 event after discussions with LEN, Europe's swimming federation.

Meanwhile, the Duel in the Pool, the Ryder Cup-style event between the United States and Europe, will be staged in Atlanta's Olympic pool in Dec 2011.

Indian medal tally boosts Doordarshan income

India's glowing medal tally in the Commonwealth Games is boosting public broadcaster Doordarshan's earnings, with mounting viewership leading to more advertisements, officials said Monday.

"With India's medal tally increasing by the day, viewership has definitely increased... That's why corporates are now keen to book slots for advertisements during the matches," a Doordarshan official said.

Doordarshan's initial assessment based on estimates of audience measurement agencies had put the number of homes in India that watched the opening ceremony Oct 3 at over 87 million.

India is second in the medal tally with 29 gold, 22 silver and 23 bronze medals.

Doordarshan's advertisement revenues had so far been poor. Its original revenue forecast of around USD 40 million was revised down to USD 20 million.

To make up for the deficit, the Indian government had asked public sector units to book ad spots. But the picture is changing now.

With increasing viewership, the spot buy rates have now been hiked from Rs.90,000 (USD 2,040) to Rs.250,000 (USD 5,660) for a 10-second slot.

The Commonwealth Games Village newspaper quotes some corporate houses as saying that they are looking forward to advertise on Doordarshan.

"We cannot do anything now in terms of sponsorships and other ground activities during the Games. But what we can do is take up ad spots and place advertisements since the TRP is increasing," said Anirush Dhoot, Videocon Industries
director (Sales and Marketing).

Pepsico executive vice president Sandeep Arora said: "We are evaluating opportunities as to what a brand like us, which is not a sponsor, can do during the Games."

CWG Day 8: All three medals to Indian women in discus throw

India continues an impressive run in the Commonwealth Games medal tally after Indian women swept gold, silver and bronze in the discus.Krishna Poonia won gold, bagging the top spot with a throw of 61.51-meters, thus becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold in athletics at the Games in New Delhi.

India’s first Commonwealth Games gold medal in track and field came in 1958 when Milkha Singh won the 440-yard track event in Cardiff.

On Monday, Harwant Kaur won silver with a throw of 60.16 meters and Seema Antil a bronze with a 58.46-meter throw.

Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Games Organizing Committee presented the medals as the crowd in Jawaharlal Nehru stadium went wild for Ms. Poonia. The Hindi presenter called for another round of applause for the medal winners as a modern version of the song Vande Mataram was played.

The first medal to come India’s way on the eighth day of competition was from its shooters.

Tejaswini Sawant and Meena Kumari won a bronze medal in the 50-meter women’s pairs rifle event.

India’s aspirations of winning a bagful of gold medals from boxing were dashed after Olympic bronze medalist Vijender Singh was knocked out in the semi-final of the 75-kilogram boxing competition.

Amandeep Singh, Jai Bhagwan and Dilbag Singh won a bronze medal each in 49-kilogram, 60-kilogram and 69-kilogram events.

India’s favorite badminton player Saina Nehwal entered into the quarter-finals after defeating Nigerian Caroline Black 21-0, 21-2.

Australia is currently leading the Games’ overall scoreboard with 139 medals; England stands second with 106 medals followed by India with 81 medals.

Ho-Ho bus service launched for Commonwealth Games visitors

Recently launched by Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit, the service will offer visitors to the mega sporting event a hassle free and smooth ride to tourists to monuments, museums and markets.

Ho-Ho name sounds somewhat interesting when it is connected with a bus service. What is Ho-Ho? It stands for ‘hop on, hop off’ (Ho-Ho) bus service, modeled on popular concept of transport facilities in European countries and this is first time in India that such services will be provided to visitors during Commonwealth Games  in capital. After getting low floor green colour buses and red colour air conditioned buses, it is time for Delhiites to see new purple colour buses on the roads.

Recently launched by Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit, the service will offer visitors to the mega sporting event a hassle free and smooth ride to tourists to monuments, museums and markets. In this service, buses would ply on the designated route every half an hour so that tourists do not have any obligation on time spent at a spot. They can board the buses anywhere they want to and go to the next destination. Tourists can hop on and hop off at any of the stops along the way as per their expediency. The buses will ply from 8 am. to 8 pm through the year.

The bus service will ferry the visitors to not only to the historical monuments, museums and other popular tourist destinations but also to authentic Indian restaurants and popular markets. Tourists using this bus service do not have to need to stand in the queue to buy their entry tickets for historical monument as entry tickets will be available for sale inside the ‘Ho-Ho’ bus.

The buses will start from Coffee Home, Baba Karag Singh Marg in Connuaght Place and will have stoppages at Delhi Gate, Red Fort, Raj Ghat, National Gallery of Modern Art India Gate, Purana Quila, Humayuns Tomb, Defence Colony Metro Station, Lotus Temple, Metropolitan Mall Saket/Select City Walk, Qutab Minar, Hauz Khas Village, Dilli Haat (INA), Safdarjung Tomb, Santushti near Hotel Samrat, Teen Murti Marg-Nehru Museum, National Museum Janpath and Jantar Mantar.

The visitors will be able to visit Khooni Darwaza, Feroz Shah Kotla, Gandhi Museum, Ambedkar Stadium, Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, Salimgarh Fort, various Samadhis around Raj Ghat, National Stadium, Children's Park, India Gate, Pragati Maidan, Crafts Museum, National Zoological Park, Isa Khan Tomb, Nizamuddin Dargah, Gole Gumbaj, Sunderwala Burj, Defence Colony Market, Lajpat Nagar Central Market, Kalkaji District Park, ISKCON Temple, Hotel Intercontinental Eros, Hilton Garden Inn, Garden of Five Senses, Quila Rai Pithora, Ahimsa Sthal, Butterfly Park, Indian Handicraft Emporium, Deer Park, Hauz Rani monument, Hauz Khas Market, Dilli Haat, INA Market, Lodi Garden, Jaipur Polo Ground, Nehru Planetarium, Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum, Janpath Market, Crafts Emporium, etc.

The bus which is equipped with state of art technologies like digital video screens and GPS system also has trained guides and guest relations executives who will be responsible for giving information about the sites. After Games, government will start an open-roof service for tourists in the winter season only so that the tourists can enjoy winter of Delhi too.

Tourists can download city maps, information brochures and informative videos to plan their trip better. Information such as type of hotel, booking services, bed and breakfast establishments, guest houses, transport and flight services, currency converter and weather updates besides detailed information on city’s heritage, must-see attractions and eateries are being made available at the click of a mouse even before they set out for Delhi.

The purple-coloured air-conditioned buses will hit the roads from Oct 1, 2010. From September 28th to 30th, 2010 the buses will offer free rides to under-privileged children and senior citizens. The bus will charge Rs.300 from adult and Rs.150 from every child less than three feet in height.

The service is provided by joint venture between Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), Prasanna Purple Mobility Solutions Private Ltd, Pune and Urban Mass Transit Company Ltd (UMTC) and contract is for next ten years.

for more information visit http://www.hohodelhi.com