Olympic star David Davies tells his parents not to travel to Delhi

A British Olympic star has told his By Stephen Davies parents not to fly out to watch him at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi because he fears for their safety.

David Davies, a silver medallist at the Beijing Olympics two years ago, is so concerned about the possibility of a terrorist attack that he plans to make his Indian experience the briefest possible - and he does not want his mum and dad to have any part of it.

I'm planning to fly in and, as soon as the job is done, fly straight out,' said Davies. 'I've told my parents not to go. I'd be worried about them walking around the streets. I don't want that on my mind.'

The Welshman's outburst comes just days after a group with Al-Qaeda links uttered their starkest warning yet that the Commonwealth Games are a target for a terror attack.

And it must cast doubt over any of the teams from Britain participating in the event. Commonwealth Games England, one of the organising bodies, are insisting preparations are carrying on as usual.

But heptathlon world champion Jessica Ennis, her rival Kelly Sotherton and the fastest man on earth, Jamaica's Usain Bolt, have already ruled themselves out of travelling to the event which takes place in the Indian capital from October 3-14.

England's double world gymnastic champion Beth Tweddle will not be taking part and many other stars are still undecided over whether to attend.

Davies, the 2006 Commonwealth Games champion at 1500metres, added: 'It should be purely about sport but that's not the way the world works. Politics and sport are interlinked now.

'It's the biggest issue we've had at any event so it is a bit more worrying. But I have confidence in the people who look after us and in our security.'

Another athlete with reservations about going is 29-year-old English hurdler Andy Turner, a medallist in Melbourne four years ago.

The father of two daughters said: 'I have a family to think about. You hear about all the problems out there - people shooting at cricketers and other countries not sending teams out.

'You have to ask yourself whether it's worth it.'

More than 8,000 athletes from 71 nations are expected to attend, but there has been a shadow cast over the two-week jamboree ever since the Mumbai bombings in 2008.

Then, last August, fears of a terrorist threat saw England's badminton team withdraw from the World Championships in Hyderabad, although the competition passed without incident.

Now, a statement from a splinter group calling themselves the 313 Brigade, has mentioned specific targets as next week's Hockey World Cup, cricket's Indian Premier League and the Commonwealth Games, though organisers of all three events are playing down the threat.

David Faulkner, the England hockey performance director, was waiting for detailed security plans concerning the team hotel and transportation to competition venues.

He said: 'We've had a positive communication from the FIH (International Hockey Federation) and there is a briefing taking place this week which the British High Commission are managing on our behalf.'

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Hooper poured scorn on suggestions the competition should be moved to another country.

He said: 'The Games will not be shifted, make no mistake. The Games in 2010 will be in Delhi, there is no Plan B.

'From a planning and security point of view, there is nothing to my knowledge that would suggest that security planning for the Games is not on track. The commitment is unwavering from the Indian government to deliver a safe and secure Games.'

Competition still fires battle-scarred Aussie

“Mix RVS Rathore’s temperament and Ronjan Sodhi’s technique…shake the two and you’ll get the best shooter in the world, mate,” is shotgun great Russell Mark’s recipe for producing the best double-trap marksman.

Every word the champion shooter, who won the double-trap Olympic gold and silver in 1996 (Atlanta) and 2000 (Sydney), has to be taken as gospel. The burly 46-year-old Aussie, here for the Commonwealth Championships, has more than two decades of experience and has trained Rathore, Sodhi and other Indians.

“It was a proud moment to see Chilly (Rathore) win silver in Athens (Olympics). He was my first pupil and a tough one mentally. India is lucky to have two great double-trap shooters …most countries have one,” says Mark, who is expected to defend his Melbourne Commonwealth Games title in Delhi.

“While (teammate and trap shooter) Michael Diamond decided to train for the World Cup in Acapulco (Mexico), I came to Delhi because I still enjoy big events, or those leading to something big like the Commonwealth Games.”

Mark agrees that India has overtaken Australia in shooting. “Their success at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games still hurts. We learnt some valuable lessons and we’ll come back stronger in Delhi. But the rivalry is good for the sport. “Seeing the ranges here, I wish India and Australia could come together more often and compete in these beautiful ranges.”

Any plans of taking up a full-time coaching job in India? “Not full-time. But part-time, yes. I am training a shooter (Nicholas Kirley) for the Commonwealth Games back home,” he said.

Mark’s love for the ranges also brought him closer to Lauryn, an American skeet shooter, now settled in Australia after marriage. “She is a triple Commonwealth Games gold-medallist and will be arriving tomorrow to compete.

He concluded on a lighter vein. “She (Lauryn) now calls herself an Australian with an American accent.”

Strong security in New Delhi: Russell Mark

CHAMPION shooter Russell Mark says India has amassed the strongest security force he has seen while at the first Commonwealth Games test events in New Delhi.

A veteran of 10 Olympic and Commonwealth Games, Mark said India had reacted quickly to the lethal bombing in Pune.

The Olympic gold medallist said athletes had been ordered not to move outside their hotels and the competition venue.

"We're in entire lockdown mode," he said from New Delhi.

"We can only go to the shooting range and our hotel.

"I reckon there's about 900 security guards around the place. They've gone overboard on security to the point that when you walk through the airport, everyone seems to have an AK-47.

"I've been going to Olympic or Commonwealth Games since 1988 and this is the biggest security force I have ever seen."

Mark said spectators had been barred from attending the shooting range for the test events. He said the 20 Australian athletes and staff in New Delhi did not feel threatened in the wake of the Pune attack.

Nine people were killed and 60 injured when a bomb exploded outside a restaurant.

The attack triggered further warnings from groups aligning themselves to al-Qa'ida.

Mark said Indian officials and security were "on a knife's edge".

"They are obviously worried and they don't want anything bad to happen," he said.

"They want the Commonwealth Games to go ahead and they're doing everything they can to make sure we are safe.

"I don't think the test event is going to be a worry. I think the far bigger threat surrounds the Commonwealth Games."

The Games are scheduled for October 3-14.

Mark said the shooting facility had been completed, but lacked finishing touches.

He said security at the venue and hotels far exceeded the "ring of steel" used to fortify Athens for the 2004 Olympics.

Delhi Police 'rubbish' Tennis Australia's claim of stolen CWG plans

Tennis Australia (TA) Saturday claimed that the security plans for October's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi were stolen and that had prompted it to forfeit the Davis Cup tie against India in Chennai last May. "Rubbish" said the Delhi Police of the claim, while the CWG Organising Committee expressed surprise over the charge.

"This is completely rubbish and nothing like this took place. Security plans are not kept in any police station and are not left lying around to be stolen," said a senior Delhi Police official, wishing anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

An official of the Organising Committee said: "It is first time that I am hearing reports of security plans of the Commonwealth Games being stolen. I don't remember if anything like this ever took place."

TA president Geoff Pollard said Australia's participation in tennis, making its debut in the Commonwealth Games, would be an issue for the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA).

ACGA president Sam Coffa said: "The last thing we will do is risk anyone's safety. We will continue to monitor
the situation in Delhi but not one sport has considered not going to India. But if anything shows up that causes concern, we will look at it closely."

A confidential TA report, drawing on information from "other security organisations with strong ties to the Chennai region", does not specify who stole the Commonwealth Games blueprints but a source said: "It forced the organisers to rejig the whole security plans for the Games."

The report rejected an earlier security assessment by a Chennai consultant -- ordered by the International Tennis Federation -- as inadequate and conflicted, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Pollard said fears of escalated activity by Tamil Tigers coinciding with the month-long Indian election period were the major reasons for withdrawing from the third-round Davis Cup tie. But he confirmed the report citing, "the security plans for the Commonwealth Games to be held in India in 2010 had been stolen," as evidence of lax safety measures.

"Al Qaeda are everywhere in the world but they are a slightly higher risk in India than in other places.

"If the stolen plans had been the only risk, I think we would have gone to Chennai but we had the two extra risks of the election and the Tamils in the dying weeks of their last fight," Pollard said.

ACGA chief executive Perry Crosswhite said he had seen reports of plans missing from a police station but was uncertain they related to security. "I'm not aware what specifically happened but am aware of reports from India that Commonwealth Games plans had been lost or stolen," he said.

However, the TA submission, by Melbourne barrister Brian Collis, QC, questioned security arrangements in India.

TA then commissioned two independent security assessments, and the information on the stolen security plans for the Commonwealth Games surfaced. "Both assessments found that there was a credible risk of terrorist attacks within the Chennai region at or about the time the said Davis Cup Tie was to take place," TA said in its submission.

Australia was fined only USD 10,000 for forfeiting a Davis Cup tie.

Michael Brown: Sports world a risky place

People have had a glance into the future of international sport over the past 12 months - and it doesn't look good.

Last week's threat from the 313 Brigade, an operational arm of al Qaeda, for competitors to avoid this month's Hockey World Cup, the Indian Premier League cricket competition and Commonwealth Games was made to destabilise an already volatile India.

It was also a specific threat and threats sometimes become real, like the bombing of a restaurant in Pune that killed eight last weekend. As much as Indian authorities have tried to allay fears and guarantee safety, everyone is extremely nervous.

Of course, competitors, sports bodies and governments should defy these threats. Pulling out is only legitimising the cause of these despicable individuals and encouraging other terrorist groups to wage their own "war".

But it's not that easy. Lives are at stake. Sportsmen and women didn't sign up for this. Their training is in the gyms and on the practice fields, not on rifle ranges.

The New Zealand hockey team have no intention of being used as a test case to see if the Commonwealth Games should go ahead and have delayed their journey to India until they can be convinced it is safe. There will be promises but the human mind knows promises aren't always kept.

Shane Warne has also declared that he is reconsidering playing in this year's IPL if threats of a terrorist attack are proven to be credible.

Remember, last year's one was shifted to South Africa at late notice because of fears of instability around India's general elections.

The world is undoubtedly changing. Sport is no longer that untouchable pastime. Competitors are, in the eyes of terrorists, valid and easy targets. They play in open fields and in front of large crowds.

This could change, however, in many parts of the world. When decision-makers meet to determine which country hosts a tournament, a country's location in the world will be a major factor.

Already cricketers refuse to play Pakistan at home, meaning Pakistan play their 'home' matches in places like Dubai, England and even New Zealand.

Likewise, the 32 teams due to compete at June's World Cup in South Africa have been told to include a security detail in their touring party.

Few needed much convincing after two members of the Togo football team were killed by dissidents as they travelled by bus to the recent Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

Kookaburras wait out al-Qaeda threat

KOOKABURRAS goalkeeper George Bazeley is confident the team has done the training and preparation needed to do well in the World Cup - should plans to travel to New Delhi go ahead.

The team is scheduled to fly to India today, but has delayed a final decision on whether to go until the last minute after an al-Qaeda terrorist threat was made during the week against teams in the hockey World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and cricket's Indian Premier League.

Hockey Australia officials have confirmed they are awaiting advice from a range of security sources before making a decision.

Bazeley, one of two Victorians in the squad, said while he was excited to be attending his first World Cup only a year after joining the national team, the recent events had ''certainly put a dampner on things''.

''As a team we're acutely aware of the threats that have been placed on the World Cup and we're trying not to let that affect our preparation too much,'' Bazeley said.

''At this stage we're still going to be travelling. We trust Hockey Australia wouldn't send us into an unsafe environment and we're playing it by ear as to where we go from here.''

Bazeley said he was trying to get in a ''good head space'' should the trip go ahead.

''I know I've done the preparation. I'm the fittest I've ever been, I'm the strongest I've ever been and as confident as I've ever been. I just need to find that rhythm and get into that groove,'' he said.

Bazeley's rise to the elite level has been incredibly quick. ''I've been in the Australian team now for 12 months and before that I was playing club hockey in Melbourne and enjoying playing for Victoria in the State Hockey League,'' he said.

''I had a pretty good life outside of hockey and a great balance of work, rest and play and a good group of friends, a good job [as a town planner for a private consultancy] and hockey was going well.

''Just like anything, when you've got that balance in your life you start to excel. Then opportunities opened up with hockey and I would have been crazy not to take them up and make the most of it.

''At the moment, the coach [Ric Charlesworth] has high expectations and thinks I could really make it one day down the track on a world scale and I'm just starting to believe as well that I could potentially get there.

''It's just taken a bit longer for my belief to catch up with the coach's. It's certainly reassuring and it gives you a lot of confidence knowing that he thinks you can do that.''

Bazeley said the top six-ranked teams in the world, which included Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Korea and England, were all capable of beating anyone on any given day, with India also a strong chance in front of a home crowd.

The World Cup, which is held every four years, will be played in New Delhi from next Sunday to March 13.

The Kookaburras have won the World Cup once, in 1986, and were runners-up at the past two World Cup tournaments.

In Perth on Friday night, the Kookaburras beat New Zealand 4-2.

Diamonds to shine in India at Games

AUSTRALIA'S netballers have no intention of pulling out of the Commonwealth Games despite the recent terrorist threat against athletes due to compete in India.

Coach Norma Plummer took team leaders Sharelle McMahon and Natalie von Bertouch, management and medical staff to Delhi on the way to the Diamonds' UK tour and was satisfied with Games arrangements.

''I just went to India on the way here and found everything to be fine,'' Plummer said after her team lost their first Test to England since 1981 yesterday (AEDT) .

''All the players want to represent Australia at Commonwealth Games. The only reason we wouldn't go is if they cancelled it, not us.''

Plummer said her team would heed all security advice after threats by al-Qaeda-linked militants.

''It's business as usual for us and we will be setting ourselves up to make sure we're going,'' she said.

Plummer was pleased with the efforts of her youthful squad, which is without five senior players including the injured McMahon, despite their 41-40 loss to England in Liverpool.

''I don't think England has got too much more to show,'' she said. ''That's their senior group … as far as caps and internationals and combinations on court. We are pretty green. We can change up a bit. That's experience.''

Player of the match and England defender Geva Mentor pointed out she wasn't even born when England last won a Test against Australia.

''All of us are absolutely ecstatic with the win. It was hard fought, but we made quite a few errors,'' she said.

England head coach Sue Hawkins said Australia would ''come back fighting''. ''They'll be hurting. They won't like it and they'll come back with a tougher approach.''

Kate Beveridge, the least experienced of Australia's shooters, led the scoring percentages with 13 goals from 16 attempts in the half she played, while the experienced Susan Pratley played a full game and shot 21 from 29. Defender and vice-captain Mo'onia Gerrard returned after missing Australia's second Test against Scotland with an ankle injury.

The Diamonds face England in the second of three Tests in Nottingham on Monday (AEDT).