COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Source: www.insidethegames.biz  By Duncan Mackay

Source: www.insidethegames.biz By Duncan Mackay September 26 - Gold Coast's bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games could be aided by the problems which have overshadowed New Delhi's preparations, the city's Mayor Ron Clarke (pictured) has claimed, but he also warned Sri Lankan rivals Hambantota should not be written off because they may have the backing of China. Clarke, the former world record holder for 10,000 metres, is optimistic that the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) members will view Gold Coast as a safe choice when they come to vote on the venue for 2018 at its meeting next year. September 26 - Gold Coast's bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games could be aided by the problems which have overshadowed New Delhi's preparations, the city's Mayor Ron Clarke (pictured) has claimed, but he also warned Sri Lankan rivals Hambantota should not be written off because they may have the backing of China.

Clarke, the former world record holder for 10,000 metres, is optimistic that the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) members will view Gold Coast as a safe choice when they come to vote on the venue for 2018 at its meeting next year.

"We can be seen to be the new breath of fresh air, we could be the resurrection of the Games," he told the Brisbane Times.

"We could stage a wonderful Commonwealth Games and, if necessary, we could be the saviour of them."

Hambantota would be the smallest ever city to host the Games if they are chosen.

It has a population of only 11,000 - although that raises to 525,000 in the surrounding area - but is at the centre of a massive investment by China, who have identified it as a key strategic point in the Indian Ocean on the shipping route between the Suez Canal and the Malacca Straits.

Last month Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa opened the first phase of a China-funded $1.5 billion (£973 million) port project in Hambantota.

"China is supporting them [Hambantota] and China has got lots of money to build new facilities and they have provided facilities and financial assistance to a lot of Commonwealth countries, particularly in Africa," said Clarke.

"So if they want to call in their charge, then no matter how it appears on the surface, that could have an influence on votes.

"We're respecting their bid - there's always that question about what does that Chinese investment mean for the bid, but no-one has the answers to those questions.

"This is not a lay down misere - you see what's happening in cricket at the moment, where suddenly there are different influences playing out.

"We're in a much more political world than we've ever been."

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is due to travel to New Delhi later this week to continue lobbying on behalf of the Gold Coast's bid.

She will be joined by Federal Sport Minister Mark Arbib and other Gold Coast representatives CGF's General Assembly on Saturday (October 2) - the day before the Games are due to begin.

Source: www.insidethegames.biz By Tom Degun in New Delhi

Gold Coast bid chairman predicts tough battle for 2018 GamesOctober 12 - Mark Stockwell (pictured right), chairman of the Gold Coast 2018 bid team, told insidethegames his team faces a tough fight with Hambantota to secure the 21st Commonwealth Games - despite media reports suggesting the Australian city is the early front-runner.

Gold Coast stole a march on their rivals during their trip to Delhi by taking the opportunity to give a presentation to the 71 countries and territories of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) at a special meeting attended by Prince Edward just six days ago.

The Hambantota bid team chose not to make a presentation, despite the fact that attendees of the meeting will vote for the city that hosts the 2018 event, sparking claims that the competition is now the Gold Coast’s for the taking.

However, Stockwell completely dismissed such suggestions predicting the vote will come right down to the wire.

He said: "I felt that here in Delhi, the time was right to get on the front foot, play a few of our cards and show a little bit of what we’re about and what we have to offer.

"But to say that we’re ahead in the bid race or anything like that is just nonsense and I don’t believe that at all.

"It’s very much a two-horse race and Hambantota are definitely out there lobbying hard for it.

"They haven’t really played their hand yet, so to be honest I don’t really know anything at all about their bid.

"They’re holding their cards very close to their chest but they’ve obviously got their own game plan and they know what they are doing.

Gold Coast bid chairman predicts tough battle for 2018 Games"They may not have taken the opportunity to make a presentation on their bid but they have done everything that has been requested of them through the official channels so you can’t ask for much more.

"The best thing we can do though is concentrate on what we can deliver and we’re going to keep fighting as hard as we can.

"The Commonwealth Games is a competition where we pay homage to athletes’ competing and we are definitely in a competition with this bid so we’re competing hard."

After major problems in Delhi - ranging from health and safety concerns to reports of corruption and high profile athlete boycotts - it is considered likely that the CGF would be tempted to take the lower risk option of taking the 2018 Games to Australia, which has hosted the competition four times before, mostly recent in 2006 when Melbourne staged a highly successful event that earned more in sponsorship revenue than the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Paralympics.

Stockwell however, disagrees.

"It is fair to say the CGF know what they are going to get coming to the Gold Coast.

"They’ve all been to Sydney for the Olympic and Paralympics in 2000 and they’ve all been to Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games in 2006 so they know what we are going to offer.

"Yes, maybe we do offer the safer option on paper but there are times when the CGF will want to take a risk and take the Games to new parts of the world so that’s what we’re really up against.

"I mean, it would get a bit boring if the Commonwealth Games were the same all the time.

"I would say that we offer a different Games on the Gold Coast.

"Australia is such a big country that you can’t really compare Melbourne or Sydney to the Gold Coast geographically because they are so far away - it is almost like they are in different countries.

"I feel the Gold Coast would be a great addition to the Commonwealth Games because it’s relaxed, it’s really beautiful and the lack of formality from the laid back people there would be a great feature.

"We’re obviously over here working hard on building relationships with the Commonwealth Games family, learning from Delhi and actually working closely with the Glasgow 2014 team, who have been very helpful in sharing information which is great and how it should be.

"But we know we’ve got a real scrap on our hands with Hambantota and we’ll be giving it everything we’ve got until the end."

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com

Delhi closes on a highDelhi put on a second flawless spectacle of song and dance yesterday to close the Commonwealth Games on a high after at one stage threatening to become a national embarrassment to India.

The US$6 billion Games started in crisis and struggled through a first week of organisational blunders before finally getting into its stride to leave athletes happy and a host nation proud of its best-ever showing in the sporting arena.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

NZ win Commonwealth sevens gold medalNew Zealand won Commonwealth rugby sevens gold after recovering from 10 points down to beat Australia 24-17.

The Kiwis scored the last three tries of the Delhi final to secure their fourth successive Commonwealth title.
England missed out on a medal after losing 33-12 to New Zealand in the semi-finals and 17-14 to South Africa in the match for bronze.

Source: www.guardian.co.tt by Clayton Clarke.

T&T’s medal winning athletes pose with chef de mission Arlene Knott at the Commonwealth Games Village in Delhi India, yesterday. From left, Roger Daniel, Ayanna Alexander, Knott, Cleopatra Borel Brown,and Rodney Allen. Photo: Clayton ClarkeT&T boxer Tariq Abdul Haqq qualified for the gold medal bout in the men’s super-heavyweight (+91kg) at the 19th Commonwealth Games at the Talkatora indoor Stadium, yesterday. Abdul Haqq, who won a bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games earlier this year, out-punched Blaise Yepmou of the Cameroon by seven points to five in the semifinals.

Source: www.nzherald.co.nz  By Dylan Cleaver

Hosea Gear beats the despairing dive of his Canadian opponent in New Zealand's first-round match, which the Kiwis won 43-7 yesterday. Photo / Brett PhibbsAbout the only thing that stopped this from looking like a scene out of any rugby country in the world was the hundreds of kites - of the avian variety - circling overhead, waiting for the players to move so they could swoop on the insects.
"I was looking out there before the game and there are some big suckers, aye," said New Zealand's first try-scorer of the tournament Kurt Baker.

Menacing birds aside, the venue is an oasis. Tucked away in leafy Delhi University, it is a world away from the hubbub of the city.There was some concern on Thursday when the electronic scoreboard came loose and smashed to the ground. It was fixed "with typical Swiss efficiency", according to a release.
Read into that what you will.

The facility is otherwise excellent, the surface near perfect and the stands were filling by the hour - could sevens emerge as one of the unlikely stars of the games?

Oludamola Osayomi must wait to find out what action the IAAF will take. Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPACommonwealth Games women's 100m gold medal winner Damola Osayemi has failed a drugs test.

She has been provisionally suspended until the result of her B sample is received on Wednesday.
The Nigerian, 24, was named champion on Thursday after Australia's Sally Pearson was controversially disqualified for a false start.

England's Katherine Endacott finished fourth but could now be handed silver if the decision is upheld.
The sprinter showed traces of a banned stimulant called methylhexaneamine, which has only recently been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list.

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com  By Kwame Laurence in New Delhi

Joseph Parker (NZL, blue) v Tariq Abdul Haqq (Trinidad). Boxing, Super Heavy Weights (Photosport)Boxer Tariq Abdul Haqq assured Trinidad and Tobago of a fifth medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, when he advanced to the semifinal round in the super heavyweight division, at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

Haqq won his quarter-final duel with New Zealand's Joseph Parker by the narrowest of margins. The bout was scored a 7-7 draw, and on a count back, the scorecards of the five judges still could not determine a winner. Haqq was then awarded the decision by preference, three of the judges giving him the nod over his opponent.
Today, Haqq will be back in the ring for his semifinal contest, against Cameroon's Blaise Yepmou.

By reaching the penultimate round of the competition, Haqq is assured of at least bronze. So, no matter what happens in his showdown with Yepmou, the 20-year-old will become the third boxer from T&T to climb a Commonwealth Games rostrum, following in the footsteps of 1994 middleweight bronze medallist Mervyn Penniston and 2002 super heavyweight silver medallist Kertson Manswell.

At the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, T&T's Robert Auerbach produced an impressive performance in the men's singles trap, hitting 138 out of a possible 150 targets to capture fifth spot.

England's Aaron Heading grabbed gold with a Finals Games Record of 147. Australian Michael Diamond (146) and India's Manavjit Singh Sandhu (144) earned silver and bronze, respectively.

After two stages of qualifying, Auerbach was joint sixth, with four other competitors, each of the five hitting 120 targets. In the shoot-off for the sixth and final berth in the final, Auerbach emerged victorious.

The 22-year-old shooter then hit 18 out of 25 targets to edge into fifth spot.
Rhodney Allen finished 15th in the men's 25 metres centrefire pistol singles event. Allen scored 564, while his T&T teammate, Roger Daniel totalled 558 for 18th spot.
Indians Harpeet Singh (580) and Vijay Kumar (574) finished one-two, while third spot went to Singapore's Lip Meng Poh (574).

The full bore singles and pairs events continue today, at the CRPF Campus. T&T's Justin Lall and Norris Gomez are among the shooters on show.
T&T's netballers gave a spirited showing against the mighty Australians in their final Group A fixture, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex. Australia won 62-34, T&T doing a fine job of containing the top ranked team in the world.

For T&T, Anestacia Wilson and captain Janelle Barker scored 16 goals each.
Afterwards, Barker told the Express she was very satisfied with her team's performance.
"A complete team effort. This is the game we should have been playing right through the tournament. Unfortunately, it took us today to get it together. But I am extremely happy, extremely proud of my girls.

"We like playing against Australia. We need to show Australia that hey, we could play just as good and even better than them. We outscored them in the second quarter, and I think that was splendid."

A small but enthusiastic cheering section, aided by the T&T bench, spurred the team on. The supporters even offered an amended version of David Rudder's "Calypso Music".
"Calypso, Calypso, Calypso Netball," they sang.

Perhaps it was no coincidence that sports psychologist Dr Margaret Ottley was leading the chant, the lyrics giving the Aussies a reminder that T&T were once world beaters.
"I want to think that was part of it," said Barker. "It wasn't something that was planned, but the adrenaline, it filtered out to the crowd tonight."


Playing with great intensity, T&T often matched their opponents on the court. Barker insisted, though, that another factor worked against her team.
"The officiating needs to be consistent. It was very inconsistent tonight. The officiating cannot only be to the advantage of one team and at a disadvantage to another team. It was clear. Everybody was seeing it. The people who are in charge of selecting these umpires need to reassess them, and really look and see if every team is getting a fair opportunity to win a tournament."

T&T, fourth in Group A with two wins and three defeats, take on Caribbean rivals Barbados today, in the seventh place playoff. T&T cyclist Emile Abraham returned a time of three hours, 57 minutes, 10 seconds to finish 35th in the 168-kilometre men's road race.

In a tight finish, Australia's Allan Davis claimed the gold, beating New Zealander Hayden Roulston and Scotland's David Millar into second and third, respectively. All three medallists were credited with the same time—3:49:48.
And late last night (TT time), T&T's hockey women squared off against Malaysia, at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, in a battle for ninth spot in the 10-team tournament.


Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By Kwame Laurence

DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 10: Rhonda Watkins of Trinidad and Tobago competes in the women's long jump final at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during day seven of the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games on October 10, 2010 in Delhi, India.Nothing in sport is guaranteed. Absolutely nothing. Rhonda Watkins was a victim of this undeniable truth, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.
The Trinidad and Tobago athlete was tipped for gold in the Commonwealth Games women's long jump, following her 6.56 metres leap in Saturday's preliminaries. She had led all qualifiers into the final, none of the other jumpers reaching the 6.50m automatic qualifying distance.

Watkins, though, could only manage fourth spot yesterday, missing out on a trip to the rostrum.

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By –Kwame Laurence

Ince 6th in final swimTrinidad and Tobago para-swimmer Shanntol Ince completed her historic participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games with a sixth-place finish in the women's 100 metres butterfly S9, at the Dr SPM Aquatics Complex, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.
Ince returned a time of one minute, 22.64 seconds.

South Africa's Natalie Du Toit dominated the field, touching the wall in 1:07.32 to complete a clean sweep of the three S9 races. England's Stephanie Millward was a distant second, in 1:13.11, while bronze went to Australian Ellie Cole (1:14.04).

T&T's hockey men lost 2-0 to Canada, at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Scott Tupper scored a first half double for the Canadians.

T&T have now completed their Group B schedule, losing all four matches to finish without a point. After yesterday's clash with Canada, T&T captain Kwandwane Browne was a disappointed man.
"We started off way too slow. We didn't play with as much intensity as we could have. If we had played half the way we played against South Africa or England, this would have been a much easier game."

Though T&T lost 4-0 to England and 5-3 to South Africa, they fought well, earning the respect of their highly-regarded opponents.

"We didn't really care so much about results," Browne explained. "The main thing for us is to qualify for the Olympics, and we need to beat teams like Canada and Argentina. That's why we're so disappointed today. We needed to win, and it just shows that we still have a little more work to do." The skipper said Friday's clash with South Africa was the highpoint of T&T's Group B campaign.
"We really played with some heart and we were really critical with our execution of set pieces."

On Tuesday, T&T face Group A table-proppers Scotland in the ninth place playoff.
T&T's netballers suffered a 61-50 defeat at the hands of Malawi in a Group A match-up, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.

T&T goal shoot Anestacia Wilson scored 26 of her 30 attempts.
Today, T&T tackle the mighty Australians.

At the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen combined for tenth spot in the men's 25 metres centrefire pistol pairs event. Daniel scored 566 and Allen 552 for a total of 1,118.

India (1,159), New Zealand (1,140) and Singapore (1,139) earned gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Daniel and Allen will compete today, in the 25m centrefire pistol singles event.
T&T's Robert Auerbach scored 71 in stage one of the men's singles trap, yesterday. Stage two and the final will be contested today.

Full bore shooters Norris Gomez and Justin Lall were in action yesterday in both singles and pairs. Those events continue today.

Super heavyweight boxer Tariq Abdul Haqq takes on New Zealand's Joseph Parker in a quarter-final bout, at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.
And Emile Abraham is the lone T&T cyclist in the men's 168-kilometre road race.
–Kwame Laurence

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By –Kwame Laurence

Ince 6th in final swimTrinidad and Tobago para-swimmer Shanntol Ince completed her historic participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games with a sixth-place finish in the women's 100 metres butterfly S9, at the Dr SPM Aquatics Complex, here in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

Ince returned a time of one minute, 22.64 seconds.
South Africa's Natalie Du Toit dominated the field, touching the wall in 1:07.32 to complete a clean sweep of the three S9 races. England's Stephanie Millward was a distant second, in 1:13.11, while bronze went to Australian Ellie Cole (1:14.04).

T&T's hockey men lost 2-0 to Canada, at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Scott Tupper scored a first half double for the Canadians.
T&T have now completed their Group B schedule, losing all four matches to finish without a point.

After yesterday's clash with Canada, T&T captain Kwandwane Browne was a disappointed man.
"We started off way too slow. We didn't play with as much intensity as we could have. If we had played half the way we played against South Africa or England, this would have been a much easier game."

Though T&T lost 4-0 to England and 5-3 to South Africa, they fought well, earning the respect of their highly-regarded opponents.

"We didn't really care so much about results," Browne explained. "The main thing for us is to qualify for the Olympics, and we need to beat teams like Canada and Argentina. That's why we're so disappointed today. We needed to win, and it just shows that we still have a little more work to do."

The skipper said Friday's clash with South Africa was the highpoint of T&T's Group B campaign.
"We really played with some heart and we were really critical with our execution of set pieces."

On Tuesday, T&T face Group A table-proppers Scotland in the ninth place playoff.
T&T's netballers suffered a 61-50 defeat at the hands of Malawi in a Group A match-up, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.

T&T goal shoot Anestacia Wilson scored 26 of her 30 attempts.
Today, T&T tackle the mighty Australians.

At the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Roger Daniel and Rhodney Allen combined for tenth spot in the men's 25 metres centrefire pistol pairs event. Daniel scored 566 and Allen 552 for a total of 1,118.
India (1,159), New Zealand (1,140) and Singapore (1,139) earned gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Daniel and Allen will compete today, in the 25m centrefire pistol singles event.
T&T's Robert Auerbach scored 71 in stage one of the men's singles trap, yesterday. Stage two and the final will be contested today.

Full bore shooters Norris Gomez and Justin Lall were in action yesterday in both singles and pairs. Those events continue today.

Super heavyweight boxer Tariq Abdul Haqq takes on New Zealand's Joseph Parker in a quarter-final bout, at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.
And Emile Abraham is the lone T&T cyclist in the men's 168-kilometre road race.
–Kwame Laurence