2010 Commonwealth Games Delhi: Indian Official Kalmadi says all venues are ready for Commonwealth Games
After missing several deadlines and in the middle of the apprehensions expressed by the international community regarding the preparedness of the venues for the Commonwealth Games, the chairman of the Indian Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee Suresh
Kalmadi, said during a press conference that all the venues are perfectly ready for the mega International event scheduled to take place next month. He also said that the sports venues have been constructed and renovated in the best possible way and can host
any sports event, even on a very short notice.
At the press conference, Kalmadi told the correspondents that despite the fears and apprehensions of the sports community and the heavy rainfall, the Organising Committee has finally prepared the venues for the Games to take place. He also said that the
security and comfort of all the athletes is ensured. He added that the teams representing India in the Games are all set to take over the fields, while all the managers of the committee are in place to take care of the event and make it a success.
Speaking on Sunday at the Thyagaraj Stadium, he said that the Indian administration and the organising committee are all set to hold a mega event like the Commonwealth Games. The stadium that he was speaking at is the venue for all the net ball competitions
at the Games.
The venue for the swimming competitions was the most criticised one because it collapsed soon after its construction completed due to the heavy monsoon rainfall. The stadium was renovated at the end of the rainfall season. The secretary general of the Indian
Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee Lalit Bhanot said that after the final construction of the indoor swimming stadium, its standard cannot be questioned as it is at par with any internationally renowned swimming stadium. The Indian swimming team has been
practising at this pool for over a week now. It took the management 80 million dollars to renovate the Shyama Prasad Swimming Pool Complex. Bhanot said during a press release, that the stadium is high class and that the committee is proud of it. He also said
that no one had ever dreamt that India will have such a world class sports stadium, and that it will host an International event on such a large scale.
One of the first venues to meet the construction deadline was the Thyagaraj Sports Complex and the built cost that came on this venue was approximately 3 billion rupees.
Apart from the main stadiums, the practising areas, media centres and all the other facilities for the athletes and the spectators are in competition with some of the best sports venues of the world, says the official of the organizing committee.
As for boxing, the stadium is again comparable to the world’s best boxing stadiums. The total cost on this stadium was around 1.5 billion rupees and it is named as Talkatora Stadium. The standard of the boxing stadium will for sure boost the morale of the
Indian boxers contending to win away the medals in the boxing competitions. The official for the boxing venue said that till now, they have got 241 entries from 48 countries in all the 10 weight categories and that the competition at the Games will be a very
stiff one.
Costing approximately 2.5 billion rupees, the Siri Fort Sports Complex will be a host to the squash and badminton meets at the Games. This newly-built complex has also changed into a world class facility centre for the athletes. The stadium is glass sided,
which can be expanded automatically.
The Commonwealth Games will be hosted from the 4th to 13th of October in New Delhi. 54 Commonwealth States have sent their entries and about 10,000 athletes will be participating in this International event.
Although, the preparations on the part of China for the Summer Olympics of 2008 are unmatched by any other nation which has hosted a sports event on such a large scale, the Indian Commonwealth Organizing Committee has done all it could in its capacity to
make the Games a memorable event.
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