Biggest Commonwealth Games kicks off in Delhi

[RanchorDas]

Shooters Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang have won first gold medals for India is Delhi CWG.
Congrats to them.

India now second in medal tally (5) after the OZs (6) ...

 

[LURKER]

India wins second gold

Anisa Syed and Rahi Sarnobat in 25m standard pistol pair event

 

[Archie]

India assured of another silver as india enter final of 90 Kg wrestling

 

[Archie]

More gold medals are expected today as many more shooting competition are underway

 

[Enigma]

India 7 medals 2 gold 3 silver and 2 bronze. Australia 4 gold 2 bronze. 3 indian wrestlers into finals of greeko roman style wrestlin. Cheers

 

[TATA]

Present stand:
GOLD: 2
SILVER: 3
BRONZE: 2

Maybe 3 golds from wrestling as our 3 wrestlers are now in finals.

 

[GUNNER]

NEW DELHI, Oct 5, 2010 (AFP) - Britain's Princess Diana may have died in a car crash in 1997, but New Delhi Commonwealth Games supremo Suresh Kalmadi thanked her for being at the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

The blundering chairman of the organising committee made the faux pas in a press conference to update reporters on the troubled Games' progress.

"Yes, Princess Diana was there," he said before correcting himself. "Prince Charles and (Camilla) the Duchess of Cornwall. Now they have gone off and they appreciated all the efforts made here."

 

[Enigma]

NEW DELHI, Oct 5, 2010 (AFP) - Britain's Princess Diana may have died in a car crash in 1997, but New Delhi Commonwealth Games supremo Suresh Kalmadi thanked her for being at the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

The blundering chairman of the organising committee made the faux pas in a press conference to update reporters on the troubled Games' progress.

"Yes, Princess Diana was there," he said before correcting himself. "Prince Charles and (Camilla) the Duchess of Cornwall. Now they have gone off and they appreciated all the efforts made here."

RAW was behind it to humiliate the Britons so that they go low on morale and not win as many medals. good jaab kalmuhi

 

[TheWarriorIndian]

We are now Second in the medals Tally, India and Australia each with 7 medals... India has 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze, our 3 wrestlers In Finals besides we have started our campaign Pretty well....

 

[Kshitiz_The sky]

Delhi Commonwealth Games: cynicism swept away by breathtaking opening ceremony – Telegraph Blogs

Delhi Commonwealth Games: cynicism swept away by breathtaking opening ceremony - Dean Nelson : Telegraph.co.uk

As we sat in the splendid Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday evening, looking at the five million pounds ‘aerostat’ blimp waiting to be raised for the opening of the cursed Delhi Commonwealth Games, a Telegraph colleague turned to me and said: “This is the only place I know where if the balloon goes up, it will be a good thing.”

It was a great line which captured the cynicism many of us, myself included, felt about India’s preparations for the Games, in particular in the collision we’ve seen in recent weeks between India’s overblown claims for its capabilities and the harsh reality of suspected corruption, mismanagement and incompetence.

But the cynicism was swept away by Bharat Bala’s breath-taking opening show.

It was impossible not to be charmed by the joy on the face of seven year old tabla drum prodigy Keshava Danukar, or any of the hundreds of Kathak dancers, or the epic sight of hundreds of bare-chested and turbaned mridangam drummers.

I was impressed, but thought some of the snap shots seemed to be from Pinewood Studios, Michael Caine’s Peachy Carnehan in Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King perhaps, at least up until the section which captured India’s roots in Gandhi’s freedom struggle and the one which portrayed the India he founded.

The ceremony had already showcased India’s great craftsmanship, its folk song and dance culture, the role of its gurus and great religions in shaping the country, but then a locomotive train engine emerged into the stadium to lead the most honest depiction of India I’ve seen in my five years of living here.

Behind the engine there were carriages carrying the distinctive horn speakers of India’s unique wedding sound systems, another with big-headed babus of India’s civil service. Giant turbans, each representing different regions and traditions, passed by on wheels, as India’s iconic Ambassador car – a barely updated Morris Oxford – rolled stately by. Tradesmen on boneshaker bicycles wobbled and weaved in amongst the traffic carrying outsized milk churns and red gas canisters while rickshaws with giants melons cut them up.

There were men with bricks piled several metres on top of their heads striding confidently through the chaos, while on the blimp above live television pictures showed craftsmen drawing amazing portraits of Gandhi’s freedom march in sand on a glass screen.

In the background more than ten different Indian dance troupes, each in different primary colours and dancing to different rhythms, completed the picture: A chaotic country teaming with individuals, united by an energy we in Britain no longer have.

It all came together, what should be blindingly obvious, and yet isn’t, especially for the legion of myopic Indian nationalists who want the world to think India is something it isn’t.

The China they want India to best could never have produced a performance of such genuine joy and natural exuberance. It couldn’t tolerate the chaos and the freedom which fuels it. It could never celebrate the chaos and diversity in this way.

Remember Lin Miaoke, the pig-tailed, beaming nine year old who wowed the world with her rendition of the national anthem and was later revealed to have mimed her song? It had in fact been sung by another young girl, Yang Peiyi, who was told she couldn’t actually appear at the ceremony because of her buck teeth.

India’s charm, what gives it its extraordinary soft power in the world, is that people love it the way it is: the world’s largest, if imperfect, democracy, home of argumentative Indians, centre of a song and dance culture, a country able to romanticise even the bullock carts which block its highways.

There’s no doubting India’s recent growth, its accelerating progress in science and technology, or even the new global empires being built by its corporate captains. But the India we love isn’t the one boasting of how it has leapfrogged the West while it cannot supply clean water, electricity, or universal education to its people.

It’s the one that does its best in daunting circumstances, which embraces and carries on through the commotion, and still manages a song and dance scene.

As well as being a consummate showman, Bharat Bala may well be India’s most honest journalist. He sent me home thanking my lucky stars I live in Delhi.

 

[Hafizzz]

Delhi Games: Tickets giveaway plan to fill empty arenas
BBC News - Delhi Games: Tickets giveaway plan to fill empty arenas

Organisers of the Commonwealth Games in India are handing out free tickets to fill empty arenas.

TV pictures beamed around the world have shown competitors in virtually empty venues in Delhi.

Organisers told a news conference in the capital they hoped to increase attendance through a ticket giveaway to children and the underprivileged.

The vacant venues problem is the latest to hit the Delhi Games, preparations for which were plagued by setbacks.

Correspondents say the lack of spectators may be because it is not easy to buy tickets, although heavy security at the stadiums has also been a deterrent.

'Prince Diana' gaffe

"We are working on the children from schools, already steps have been taken in that direction," said Delhi organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, who was booed by the crowd at Sunday's opening ceremony.

"And also from the low level of society, we have been distributing a lot of tickets," he said, in the organisers' first news conference since the Games opened.

Mr Kalmadi said booths had been opened at every venue to make it easier to purchase tickets.

"There were problems, some of the ticket stalls were not put up, but all the stalls are up now at all the stadiums," he said.

Mr Kalmadi made an embarrassing slip-up when he said that "Prince Diana" had attended Sunday's opening ceremony, the Associated Press news agency reports.

He quickly corrected himself and identified Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, as the attendees.

Lady Diana died in a car crash in 1997. She was the ex-wife of Charles, who is heir to the UK's throne and who represented Queen Elizabeth II at the opening of the Games.

Commonwealth Federation Games president Mike Fennell told Tuesday's news conference that many venues had been nearly empty on the opening day of the event.

"We are working with the organising committee on that and they themselves are very conscious of the situation as to how those venues can be filled in the days to come," he said.

On Monday, there were report of problems with the weigh-in scales for the boxing competition.

Athletes and coaches were upset as the scales gave incorrect readings, forcing some boxers to make desperate attempts to shed weight.

An organising committee official said the problem had now been "rectified".

Preparations for the Games were overshadowed by complaints about sub-standard facilities, concerns over security, and non-attendance by leading competitors. There have also been claims of corruption and mismanagement.

Organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi was jeered at the opening ceremony

 

[rakesh_sabrah]

it should have been after all Pakistan was the only country that has supported Bharat despite the mess and criticisim by western media

and hey we also did not complaint about the snakes

Good Luck

Someone will always think Like 1-2yrs KID ..Buddy grow up ...In this thing also you cant think Negative ...Is this in your Blood to think negative about India and Indians... That was warm welcome to neighbouring Country ...Other wise Everyone BOOED on that moment ...Please dont think negative everytime ...GROW UP ....

 

[Hafizzz]

India now second in medal tally (5) after the OZs (6) ...

If China, Russia and USA were part of the Common Wealth and did participate in the Games then how many Gold Medals would India get ?

 

[rakesh_sabrah]

If China, Russia and USA were part of the Common Wealth and did participate in the Games then how many Gold Medals would India get ?

Dont think How many we would have won ...Winning is important...I think we won few medals in Beijing where all these were in competition...JUST THINK ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY ..HOW MANY ARE THEY WINNING THOUGH CHINA, RUSSIA, USA IS NOT THERE....Always think about self n then about others.. Keep sports away from the Venom of hate ...Come on cheer them all ...

 

[gogbot]

Organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi was jeered at the opening ceremony

He is facing everything from mis-Mangaement to a Corruption investigation.

The games could only happen due to last minute intervention by Dehli government and the PM office , cabinet ministers and Military officials.

Even if the games are successful Khalmadi should not be off the hook