India to play against Australia in CWG Games hockey final

IT CAN be said that it was an unforgettable Tuesday when Indian men's hockey team stole the heart of all their fans. They were looking perfect, they were in rhythm and they dominated at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium. India defeated England by 5-4 in the tie-breaker to reach into the finals of the Commonwealth Games 2010.

During the 70 minutes of the game, both India and English team were 3-3. Once Indian team were behind 3-1 at the fully packed Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Fans were cheering for India and in the last 15 minutes of the play India never gave any chance to their opponent and scored two goals.

In the extra time both India and England were not able to score any goal. In the tie-breaker India's goal keeper Bharat Chetri saved Glenn Kirkham's penalty shot and secured the berth for final against defending Commonwealth Games champion Australia on October 14.

Meanwhile, on the ninth day of the Commonwealth Games 2010, Indian shooters Heena Sidhu and Annuraj Singh won 31st gold for the country in Women's 10m Air Pistol (Pairs) event, whereas, in the Women's 4×400m (Relay) event, Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji, & Mandeep Kaur bagged 32nd gold for the country.

In the Women's 50m Rifle Prone (Singles) event, Tejaswini Sawant and in the Men's 25m Standard Pistol (Pairs) event, Samresh Jung and Chandrasekhar Chaudhary won silver medals for the country.

In the badminton event, world third seeded badminton player Saina Nehwal reached into the women's single final. In the Women's Doubles event, Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta also qualified for the gold medal event at the Commonwealth Games 2010.

Saina Nehwal creates history, enters badminton finals

History was made at the Siri Fort Complex in front of home crowd, when she easily defeated opponent Susan Egelstaff of Scotland with straight set win of 21-10 and 21-17.

INDIA's BADMINTON sensation and world No. 3, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman to enter the finals of the Commonwealth Games badminton event. History was made at the Siri Fort Complex in front of home crowd, when she easily defeated Susan Egelstaff of Scotland in straight sets 21-10 and 21-17.

The spectators' cheered for her as she stepped onto the court which was the last game of the day. Because of her unforced errors, Saina lost the initial points and the crowd also fell silent. However, the match transformed into an entirely different level as she recomposed herself and took to the winning stride.

She snatched the first set in just 12 minutes from Susan. However, the next game saw Susan pressing force as she started advancing which was powered by by some uncharacteristic mistakes committed by Saina at the net.

Fear gripped the home crowd when Susan took a 17-16 lead from Saina but with maximum levels of perseverance she advanced with a five pointer to enter the finals.

In doubles match Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa also moved into the final with a 12- 21, 21- 13, 21- 11 win over Kate Wilson Smith and He Ting Tiang of Australia.

Saina will meet Malaysian second seed Wong Mew Chew in the final.“It is great to be in the final of the Commonwealth Games," Saina said proudly.

Indian men win two more bronze in athletics

India today took control of the athletics events by bagging two bronze medals for the hosts in the Javelin men's and the tripple jump finals in the 19th Commonwealth Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here today.

India's Kashinath Naik finished third by throwing the javelin to a distance of 74.29m.

The 29-year-old Indian athlete followed Stuart Farquhar of New Zealand, who scored 78.15m.

The gold was bagged by Jarrod Bannister of Australia, with a score of 81.71m.

In the tripple jump event, India's Renjith Maheswary made a national record by leaping a distance of 17.07m.

The gold was won by Tosin Oke of Nigeria with a score of 17.16m.

Silver medallist in the event, Lucien Mamba Schlick, also made a national record by scoring 17.14m.

Delhi Review Will Be Basis for the 2012 Olympics

AN evaluation of Uganda's performance at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games will provide basis of the country's preparations for the 2012 London Olympics, James Bakama reports.

"We have to seriously study what went wrong and find remedies," said education and sports state minister Charles Bakkabulindi.

Bakkabulindi was responding to reports of lack of allowances and equipment in the Ugandan camp in New Delhi. There were also complaints of team officials' relatives taking up athletes' places.

Bakkabulindi conceded that there was a delay in payment of allowances but he attributed it to bureaucracy in India's banking system. He explained that team funds amounting to about $100,000 were wired to the account of Uganda's embassy.

"Accessing the money from India was not easy. They even wanted to give it to us in Indian rupees but we refused," he said, however adding that by the time he left every Ugandan had been paid.

He accepted that cyclists delayed to get their bicycles but insisted that other requirements like the kit were not in shortage. "If there was a problem, it was merely in sizes but not availability of a kit."

He described the trip as a big success for Uganda. Besides Moses Kipsiro's two gold medals, Uganda also won bids to host the Commonwealth parliamentarians meeting and the Games federation general assembly.

Heena, Annu trigger happy - Gagan Narang’s hope of fifth win shattered

Rifleman Gagan Narang’s hopes of bagging six gold medals in the 19th edition of the Commonwealth Games remained unfulfilled, when he failed to win the 50metre pairs event on Wednesday.

Though the day began on a bright note for the hosts, at the Karni Singh range, with Heena Sidhu, Annu Raj Singh winning the record 31st gold medal for India in the 10m air pistol pairs event, the defeat of Narang and Samresh Jung in their respective pairs events dampened the spirit.

In the women’s 50metre prone event, Scotland’s Jen McIntosh won the gold with a Games record of 597. Tejaswini Sawant, the world champion in this event, got the silver with a score of 594 and Welsh’s Johanne Brekke settled for the bronze with 593 points.

“My personal best is 597 and I was competing against it and still fell short by three points. So, I am disappointed. If I had a bit more patience, I think I could have easily won the gold,” said Tejaswini.

“I was warned about the strong winds. After the third series, I became a bit over-conscious. Normally, I don’t attach much importance to the wind. But today (Tuesday), I don’t know why I was thinking so much about it ...my coaches also told me not to bother much about it,” she said.

In the men’s 25metre standard pistol, Jung (561) and C.K.Chaudhary (542) won the silver with a score of 1103.

However, with four more finals to be decided on the last day of the competition on Wednesday, India, with 14 gold medals in shooting, have an outside chance of taking their tally of yellow metals to beyond 16, a figure that they achieved in the Manchester Games, four years ago.

Tuesday’s results also ended Narang’s chance of overcoming “goldfinger” Samresh Jung’s mark of five gold medals in Melbourne. Narang, who has four gold, can still match the pistol hero if he manages to win the 50m prone individual event.

In the women’s 10metre air pistol, India, Australia and Canada were tied for the gold with 759 points. Canada got the bronze on the basis of lesser number of perfect 10s. They shot 14, while India and Australia had 21 each. India bagged the gold on the basis of count-back.

Heena (384) and Annu (375) clinched the 14th gold medal from the shooting range. The silver went to Australian shooters Dina Aspandiyarova (384) and Pamela McKenzie (375) and Canadian duo Dorothy Ludwig (380) and Lynda Hare (379) settled for the bronze.

Rebecca Adlington: 'In India I just felt selfish. I'll never moan again'

Sometimes, the most balanced personality can be a split one. As Rebecca Adlington acknowledges, most of her young life has been spent in "a bubble" – a numbing, obsessive schedule of training that reduces every different pool, Doha or Delhi, to the same, daily ducking-stool test of endurance and belief as the one where it all began, back in Mansfield. And yet, within these cramped horizons, she has discovered, or preserved, a sense of perspective somehow uncompromised by an almost pathological determination to swim faster than anyone else.

These twin strengths enable Adlington to reflect on an exotic experience at the Commonwealth Games with an equanimity that appears to have eluded many others. Yes, it doubtless helps that she won two gold medals to match the pair she won at the Beijing Olympics, when aged just 19, again at 400 metres and 800m.

Now, of course, all lanes lead to London 2012, and she paid an immediate visit to the half-built Aquatic Centre on her return from India. Judging from some of the reports out of Delhi, you almost expected her to rate this sprawling building site as already a superior facility. For Adlington, however, the bellyache she shared with so many other athletes in Delhi was only a noun – emphatically not a verb. Having peered beyond the bubble, she has come back refreshed in humility as well as pride.

"We had a 40-minute bus journey every day to the pool, and I couldn't believe it," she said. "If you see someone homeless here, it just makes you feel lucky. But in India I just felt selfish. I've never seen anything like it, it just shocked me. I thought: 'Oh my God, I'm never going to moan ever again.' Every time the bus passed down the street it would make your heart stop. It was a massive eye-opener for every single person on the bus. Someone mentioned the stomach stuff. And I was like: 'Seriously! You've got a bit of belly issues... just look out of the window.' As soon as you saw that, I think everyone just got on with it."

Back in the bubble, though – surely that was another matter? How can an elite athlete, trained for a peak, fail to be physically or mentally debilitated by sickness? "Oh, there were a lot of people worse off than myself," Adlington said. "Without going into too much detail, no matter what you ate, you were going to the toilet 10 minutes later. So it was just a case of trying not to aggravate it, while trying to actually refuel. I was living off Imodium, and the team doctor was brilliant. It must have been the hardest week of his life. But we all expected to get it, we were all prepared, and it wasn't as if it was just us."

Of course, it is precisely the ability to isolate yourself from extraneous distractions – and they can scarcely be less extraneous – that in turn separates elite athletes from the rest. To Adlington, the pool will always turn whine into water. "No matter what mood I'm in, if I'm angry, I'm upset, you dive in the pool and you just forget about everything," she said. "It's the only place I feel comfortable, the only place I feel myself, where I feel I belong. I'm a bit more of a weirdo when I get out of the pool!

"And in a race most of us are so focused, so up for it, that no matter what else is going on in your life, you just switch off. So I'm not going to let a little belly thing hold me back when I've trained the whole year for this."

Perhaps the ultimate test of this zone will not be adversity, but expectation, when she competes in 2012. "Obviously, for London, we're going to feel pressure," she said. "We're all going to be in the spotlight. At the same time, with everyone cheering for you, you just get involved in the atmosphere. In Rome last year, I raced against [Federica] Pellegrini and even I felt the buzz, though the crowd were cheering for her. No matter what I come away with, a home Olympics is just my absolute dream."

After disappointing herself at the European Championships, Adlington is encouraged that she proved so at home in a quasi-Olympic environment in Delhi – sharing an athletes' village again, and watching other sports. "It was such a positive week," she said. "I've learnt I have the confidence to pick myself up when something hasn't gone right. I just raced my own race, relaxed and enjoyed it like I used to. So I think it's a massive step, for London, and a massive thing also that the year has gone so well for the British – we're definitely becoming a nation to watch in the pool. We walk in, and people notice us. People are scared of us. We're just getting better and better, and when you put in a home crowd as well, God knows what we can achieve."

In Delhi, Adlington again dominated the field from the start – always a strategy instructive of the fires within: "Thou shalt not pass". Where does it come from, this ferocious message to her pursuers? With her cheerful, unpretentious demeanour, Adlington seems immune to egotism. In the pool, however, the mermaid apparently becomes a shark. In a recent conversation with her coach, Bill Furniss, she was affronted when he told her: "Some people just can't handle you." He had to explain that it was intended as a compliment.

"I am the most driven person," she admitted. "I want to make something of my life. I'm so lucky that I love what I do, and I'm not going to waste that. I don't want to look back and regret things. I can be difficult to deal with, because I won't let people stand in my way. Sometimes I'll come across as a bitch, but I don't care – at the end of the day, I want to achieve something. You can clash, if someone is not as driven. I get angry when I see such talented people, not giving everything. I think: 'You've all the talent in the world, you can achieve something so rare, and it's just wasted.' I'm not as naturally talented as some people. I have to work hard every single day. And when I see someone doing well, when they don't work as hard, I do get frustrated, because they could be so amazing."

There it is again – the paradox of this pleasant, everyday young woman from Mansfield. She permits only the quietest hint of her distinction, in the flags of St George painted proudly on her fingernails. Becky Adlington remains scrupulously down-to-earth. Then she exchanges terra firma for water – and, suddenly and literally, she is in her element: one of the best in history, a serial record-breaker.

"You do have two personalities: one when you're competing, one when you're not," she said. "I think it's hard for people not involved in sport to be around me, because they don't understand that. I've got the rest of my life to go out and drink, to travel, to ski. People think I miss out on being a normal 21-year-old, but at the end of the day I'm getting so much more from doing something I truly love. I actually think it's them that are missing out."

Rebecca Adlington is supporting Spots v Stripes, Cadbury's campaign to get the nation playing in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics.

Rebecca Adlington

Age 21

The 800m freestyle world record holder has won six major international gold medals in her career.

2 Adlington's golds at the 2010 Delhi games. She became the first British swimmer to win an Olympic gold since 1988 and the first double champion since 1908.

The Commonwealth Games needs its Tempest in a Turban

An Indian athlete in Wales was first to register in me a youthful awareness of the Commonwealth Games. Of course, it still cloaked itself in the grand imperial garb of Empire Games 52 years ago when only the sixth meet of the quadrennial series was held in the midsummer of 1958 at the old Arms Park in Cardiff.

All matters Empire were still loftily haughty, and snootily disdained was the metric measure of the Olympics. Serious business was still measured in feet, yards and inches. Thus it was in the classic 440 yards one-lap sprint in which, out of the blue and alongside the Taff, did the bearded, blistering Sikh, Milkha Singh, spread-eagle the field to have the next day's Daily Express eulogising "The Tempest in a Turban".

Two years later, Milkha was back in Britain to win the AAA's 440 yards title at White City as warm-up for the Rome Olympics, where he was fourth by a blink in an almost blanket finish in (still) the best-ever 400m final. The three medallists (an American, a German and a South African) were fractions ahead of him and the first two broke the world record. More than half a century later, it was terrific to catch a snatch of a BBC interview with him this Monday afternoon just before his young compatriot Tintu Luka failed in her brave but barmy frontrunning attempt to win the women's 800 metres final ("Alas for the bat out of hell", commiserated Denise Lewis).

As a teenager Milkha had lost his parents and three elder brothers in the horrors of 1947 partition but after Rome he was a permanent hero to Kashmir where, to encourage Indian athletes, he personally offered the equivalent in rupees of £3,000 to anyone who could break his Indian record of 45.73 seconds. It was all of 38 years till, in 1998, the Sikh policeman Paramjeet Singh claimed to have been 0.03 of a second faster at a local upcountry meet. Sensing the cop was planning to share the prize with the stopwatch timekeeper, old Milkha, apparently, flatly refused to pay up, saying he had stipulated his record had to be broken, as it had been achieved, on foreign soil.

When the Turbanned Tempest was triumphant at Cardiff in 1958, I was just over the border, a greenhorn cub covering ploughing matches and pony trials for the Hereford Times, and it was a long dozen years till my own debutant's dip into a Commonwealth Games press box where, by 1970 at Edinburgh, the Empire bit had been dropped and so had the imperial measurements.

We had piled into the grey old Caledonian city in July hotfoot and buzzing from June's World Cup in Mexico – Pelé, Jairzinho and all that joyous jazz. In the event, however, there was colourful enchantment enough to come and I've warmly hoarded ever since a vivid recall of what remains, all these 40 years on, still the most compelling championship footrace I've witnessed – the breathtaking 5,000m final when Scotland's 21-year‑old Ian Stewart blazingly held off his compatriot Ian McCafferty, with the two of them leaving stellar all-time champs Kip Keino and Ron Clarke in their slipstream. Still the stuff of wonder.

With a purr of contented recall as well, I was still in bright-eyed salad days' form eight years on at the Commonwealth Games of Edmonton, first to lay eyes on the bonny smile of Tessa Sanderson and the immense natural promise of the kids Barry McGuigan, Steve Cram and the astonishing Daley Thompson.

Since those heady times, however, have these Commonwealth Games become increasingly pointless? Ersatz competition for second-raters, a pallid colonial salute to a nostalgic and faded past? BBC's broadcasting and its dreaded jingo-jangle – only events which include Brits are bothered with – can stretch only so far.

Delhi's appeal has been only in its smiles, its opportunities only for last-gasp deserving oldies or no-hope non-elite novices. Realists can sneer only at a low-grade feeder event that, in first division global terms in track and field, makes for very small beer indeed. The rot probably set in when crook megalomaniac Robert Maxwell was allowed to "save" – hilariously not as it turned out – Edinburgh's second and bankrupted rain-sodden Games of 1986.

How many more closing ceremonies will the Commonwealth Games celebrate after tomorrow's in Delhi? Edinburgh's neighbours Glasgow in four years' time will be hard pressed, I fancy, to redeem the whole jamboree's very raison d'être and existence.

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.

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

India look forward to seven medals in boxing

India are looking up to their star-studded boxing squad that includes Olympic Games bronze medallist Vijender Singh, to provide a further impetus to their medal harvest on the eighth day of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Monday. Seven boxers would be seen in the ring in which the semi
final bouts would be contested and even a loss at this stage would assure them of at least a bronze, but it's certain all of them would be targeting the gold. The seven are: Anandeep Singh (lt.-fly), Suranjoy Singh (fly), Jai Bhagwan (lt. welter), Manoj Kumar (lt. welter), Dilbag Singh (welter), Vijender Singh (middle) and Paramjeet Samota (super heavy).

Their opponents are from Northern Ireland, Pakistan, England, Bahamas and Tonga. Today's winners would progress to the finals on Wednesday after Tuesday's break. Thus far, India's tally includes 29 gold, just one shy of their all-time best of 30 in 2002 at Manchester, 22 silver and as many bronze medals and is made up mainly of those won in the shooting range and on the wrestling mat.

Out of the total gold heist, the shooters, who are still in the fray, have scooped up 13, the all-powerful wrestlers and the fast-improving archers - both through with their campaign - have picked up 10 and 3 respectively. Also, out of the record overall medal heist of 73, these three sports have injected 51 - a sure indication of their vast contribution.

The surprise packet for India have been the athletes who have garnered two silver and as many bronze medals, also the best-ever from any single Games. The medal winners have been field athletes Vikas Gowda (men's discus), Prajusha Malliakal (women's long jump), Harminder Singh (men's 20km road walk) and Kavita Raut (women's 10,000m).

Today, triple jump hope Renjit Maheshwari would be in action along with seasoned women's discus throwers Krishna Pooniya and Seema Antil. Young Gayatri Govindraj takes her bow in women's 100m hurdles while preliminary rounds of all four relay events would also be gone through and India have entered in all.

In rugby 7s, India - who are making their debut - lost to Wales. In shooting, world champion Tejaswini Sawant and Meena Kumari are in fray in the 50m rifle prone event for women along with skeet shooters Allan Daniel Peoples and Mairaj Ahmad Khan. Sarabjit Singh will appear in men's 105kg Weightlifting competition.

There's Indian presence in the squash doubles event too. Indians would also seen in action in table tennis and badminton's individual competitions.

India on verge of CWG medals record as 16 gold medals at stake on Day 8

With 16 gold medals at stake on the eighth day of the XIXth Commonwealth Games, India would be keen to continue the impressive run as they are on the verge of equalling their best ever Commonwealth Games gold medals record today.

India has so far won 29 gold and another gold would put them level with their all time list of 30 gold, which they achieved in 2002 Manchester Games.

Out of six gold medals in Athletics on Monday, all eyes would be on discus thrower Krishna Pooniya and Renjit Maheshwari, who will compete in men's triple jump.

Despite showing a dismal performance in the 2010 Games so far, the Indian swimmers and divers would look to better their performance today with Hari Prasad Thimmarayappa and Manesh Kumar Mohan competing in men's 3m-springboard event, and Hrutika Parvatayya Shriram and Deepti Panwar in women's 10m-platform event at the SP Mukherjee Swimming Stadium today.

Indian boxers Suranjoy Singh and Amandeep Singh will be fighting in their respective semi-finals.

Indian shooters have been impressive in the 2010 Games and will eye upon gold today as well. Tejaswini Sawant and Meena Kumari will participate in the Women's 50m Prone Rifle Pairs event, while Allan Daniel Peoples and Mairaj Ahmad Khan will aim for gold in the Men's Skeet Pairs event.

Weightlifter Sarabjit fight for gold in 105+kg Men Finals.

The gold medals at stake today include: aquatics (2), athletics (6), lawn bowls (2), shooting (5) and weightlifting (1).

Commonwealth Games 2010: party time as India beat Pakistan to set up England clash

It was the night when the Commonwealth Games came to life. A sell-out crowd of 20,000 flag-waving fans screaming themselves hoarse as India thumped seven goals past their old hockey adversaries, Pakistan, to clinch a semi-final place against England.

Finally, after six days of half-empty stadiums and general indifference among locals to the sporting events that have turned their city into a military zone, the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium erupted into a giant party yesterday. Jose Brasa, India’s Spanish coach, likened it to being inside the Bernabéu.

If only the rest of the Games could have been like this. How different it all was to the eerily empty streets that had greeted the cyclists for the men’s and women’s road races just a few hours earlier.

Even the omnipresent police and security personnel appeared to be fighting a losing battle as spectators ignored their exhortations to sit down, many choosing to stand and cheer for the entire game.

Among them in the cheap seats was Indian National Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, who, in an apparent political gesture, eschewed the Games VIP area and chose to sit with paying customers behind one of the goals, heralding a mass outbreak of rubber-necking when the pair were spotted.

This was not a time for class distinction. Indians, facing a must-win clash with Pakistan in their national sport, were in it together.

The match had long been billed as the “Game of the Games” - ever since the last ticket was sold 3½ months ago — but what was not known then was that the cross-border showdown would be a winner-takes-all affair, deciding who would go forward to the semi-finals and who would be leaving with nothing.

With both sides tied on six points before the match but with Pakistan boasting a superior goal difference, the visitors needed only a draw while India required a victory.

India’s lame 5-2 capitulation to world champions Australia just three days earlier had not exactly inspired much confidence going into yesterday’s match, particularly since Pakistan had looked impressive in their previous pool games.

But India were clearly galvanised by the passionate home support.

Astonishingly, they were 4-0 up within 20 minutes as Sandeep Singh lashed home two penalty corners, Shivendra Singh scored a rebound from another and Saravanjit Singh touched home a long-hit pass from Sandeep to make it an all Singh-ing and dancing start for the hosts.

Two goals for Pakistan before half-time quietened the crowd for a while but by the time Danish Mujtaba swooped on a rebound from a penalty corner just after the interval and poked the ball home, the victory celebrations had begun.

A goal for Dharamvir Singh and a second for Shivendra were met with two Pakistan replies, the match ending 7-4.

India now meet England tomorrow for a place in the final after Barry Middleton’s men secured a 2-1 victory over South Africa earlier in the day to finish on top of their pool. Another sell-out crowd will test their mental fortitude.

“The crowd was excellent,” said Brasa. “I think it is incredible to play with this support. The crowd started shouting and supporting the players as soon as they arrived on the pitch and they carried on shouting every time an Indian player got the ball and looked to attack.

“That is very difficult to find in another country. In football we have something similar in Spain with Real Madrid but it is difficult to find something equal.

“When Spain were playing in the final of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 the crowd were supporting us, but it was nothing like this.”

Commonwealth Games 2010: technology and ticketing providing no end of problems

Olympic organisers say they will learn lessons from the serious ticketing and technology problems at the Commonwealth Games that have been so bad the system has teetered on the verge of collapse.

The most basic information needed for athletes, officials and technical delegates to conduct the competitions in New Delhi have ground to a halt.

In addition, the technology surrounding the sale of tickets has been immersed in scandal and incompetence, with spectators told venues are sold out, only to see on television the stands are half empty. Ticket offices often sell tickets but are then unable to print them out.

The ticketing debacle has even extended to fraud. On Sunday police arrested two people, including a volunteer who worked with the organising committee, for selling tickets at double the face value even though they were supposed to be given to schoolchildren for free.

“This has been an eye-opener into how not to do things, and how important it is for the whole system to be integrated from the word go, and tested months ahead of time,” said a London official who has been embedded in the Games staffing.

“The technology has been the biggest disaster and it has only been the goodwill of everyone being patient and trying to work around the issues that any results are being published, it is a nightmare. Technology and tickets, the two big items and they have failed both here, it has been a really valuable lesson for us not to cut any corners with this.”

Behind the scenes the results and information service which provides basic details such as schedules, times, placings, medal tallies and flash quotes from athletes has failed miserably. Commentators and journalists have to rely on scoreboard timings that flash up at a venue, sometimes for just seconds. The alternative is to wait more than four or five hours for such results.

“The main area we are very unhappy with is the Games info system,” Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell said.

Organising committee executives said the problem was the integration of the information at the venues on to the mainframe. Experts have been working on the problem of corrupted files and unworkable slow data speeds since before the opening ceremony, but it has now got to the stage that the information is being emailed around on pdf files.

Swiss Timing was charged with integrating the system at each venue into the main system but with just four days of competition remaining, the system still does not work.

Fennell said integration of the results was always challenging at Games and the contract had to be carefully handled.

Gagan creates history with fourth Commonwealth gold medal

Shooter Gagan Narang scripted history by winning the fourth gold medal at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi on Saturday. He bagged the gold in the Singles 50 m Rifle 3 Positions (Men) event and took India's gold medals to 22.

ACE INDIAN shooter Gagan Narang scripted history by winning the fourth gold medal at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi on Saturday. He bagged the gold in the Singles 50 m Rifle 3 Positions (Men) event and took India's gold medals to 22. At the rate at which Narang has been performing in the Commonwealth, India can expect few more such medals in the coming days.

Meanwhile, shooters Harpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar too clinched gold medals in men's 25-metre centre fire pistol pairs event. The Commonwealth Games has brought to the fore some incredibly talented athletes and sports persons. In athletics, Harminder Singh secured a bronze medal in men's 20 km walk. Another feat was achieved by Kavita Raut on Friday when she created history by winning bronze medal in women's 10,000 metres.

Other possible events, where India can expect gold is in women's individual recurve event in which India will be represented by archers Dola Banerjee and Deepika Kumari. In the men's segment, Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee may fetch another gold in men's recurve event.

In wrestling, all hopes are pinned upon Sushil Kumar in men's freestyle wrestling. Yogeshwar Dutt (60kg), Anuj Kumar (84kg) and Anil Kumar (55kg) are the others, who will represent India in different categories.

Commonwealth Games 2010: Haroon Khan says he proved GB selectors wrong

Haroon Khan guaranteed a Commonwealth Games medal at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi insisting beating a British Olympic squad fighter gave him more satisfaction than knowing he will head home with at least bronze.

The 19 year-old, brother of world champion Amir Khan, wearing the vest of Pakistan, squeezed past Welshman Andrew Selby on countback after a tight 3-3 draw, then said he felt vindicated after alleging he had been frozen out of the Great Britain squad.

Khan said: "This is what I wanted to do - get a medal and beat a lad from the Great Britain podium squad. I've done that and proved them wrong. It [beating a Briton] is more important than the medal."

Responding to comments made by Selby after the previous round in which the Welshman said Khan was not worthy of a podium squad place, Khan said: "Selby said he battered me in sparring - well look what happened then.

"My hand was lifted and I'm just so proud. My job was to come here and prove the selectors wrong and I've done that. I've got a medal at 52kg and the British lad hasn't got it. I wanted a medal to prove I'm good enough and I've done that."

Khan took the lead with a left hand through Selby's tight guard in the opening round, but a good left in return allowed the Welshman, whose more accurate shots lacked power, to draw level.

A crisp counter-punching right from Khan put him back in front in round two but Selby's dogged persistence paid off with a second equalising punch towards the end of the round, setting up a dramatic finale.

Both fighters exchanged single points again in the third with Khan's looser, more powerful performance ultimately catching the eye of the judges and sending him through to a semi-final against India's Suranjoy Mayengbam.

Khan has yet to decide whether he will remain an amateur or turn pro but father Shah, who was watching ringside, is hoping he will compete in London in the colours of Pakistan.

“I’d love him to be at the Olympic Games because it’s every youngster’s dream,” he said. “As a parent, I’ve seen Amir there and I’d also like to see Haroon there and hopefully win a medal.”

But Khan senior hit out at Rob McCracken, the GB Boxing performance director and head coach of the England team in Delhi, accusing him of excluding his son without even seeing him box.

“He has not seen Haroon box at all,” he said. “All he’s seen is paperwork. He’s seen the paperwork that says Haroon got beaten at a certain stage, but that means nothing.

“If kids like Haroon get pushed away at an early stage, he [McCracken] doesn’t get to see these guys. McCracken’s never seen Haroon in a camp, so how can he pick a team when he doesn’t know about the guys?”

Haroon, who is keeping in constant touch with Amir at his training camp in the Philippines where he is preparing for his WBA light welterweight defence in December, said: “My message to the selectors is to keep their eyes open because there is so much talent out there in England.”

Meanwhile, England light heavyweight Obed Mbwakongo landed a last-second punch to become the first fighter to beat an Indian at the Games, defeating Dinesh Kumar 9-8.

His victory followed a controversial loss for English bantamweight Iain Weaver at the hands of India’s Akhil Kumar. Weaver claimed he was “stitched up” by poor judging decisions as he went down 11-6.

Middlesbrough heavyweight Simon Vallily opened his Commonwealth campaign with a first-round knock-out of Dominic Winrow, of the Isle of Man.

There were worrying scenes when Glasgow boxer Joe Ham collapsed following his 14-11 bantamweight defeat by Namibia’s Sakaria Lukas.

The 19-year-old was preparing to talk to reporters when his legs gave way. He was unconscious for five minutes before he eventually came round and was taken by stretcher to an ambulance.