Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010: Update
The Commonwealth Games are going on in full cry at the Indian capital New Delhi and some breath taking sporting action has dazzled the viewers, albeit the viewers have been a rare commodity at most of the sporting events in the city.
The organizers of the Games are hopeful that the sterling show by the hosts which have seen them leapfrog to the second place in the standings would help to fill empty seats at venues in the Indian capital which have struggled big time in attracting audiences.
The lack of interest is contrary to the claims made by the Games organizers that 600,000 of the 1.5 million tickets available had been snapped up.
During the first three days of action, the venues have worn a deserted look which has dampened the spirits of the competitors.
The lack of interest is surprising given the presence and performances of local sports stars like Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra and tennis player Sania Mirza.
The ever optimistic Chairman of the organizing committee Suresh Kalmadi claims that the Games would eventually pick up pace and spectators would start showing up at the venues.
"Boxing and wrestling venues were packed yesterday. The ticket sale has picked up. Yesterday over 50,000 tickets were sold. And now with India winning quite a few gold medals, the interest levels are going up so we have made more arrangements at all
the ticket booths for more sale of tickets," Kalmadi told a news conference on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the President of the Commonwealth committee Michael Fennell was not so optimistic
"Members of our team have been around and we have seen it and we have raised questions about how they can attract people there," he said.
Some of the sporting experts in the country believe that the negativity surrounding the games have had an impact amid reports of unhygienic conditions; sub standard construction and security threats.
Meanwhile in some positive news for the organisers the Commonwealth Games Federation President Michael Fennell said that the construction and athletics track was complete and that the event would turn out to be a big success.
"There has been some news reports, speculations about the preparations for athletics, which start this afternoon and I am happy to tell you that the repair work that was necessary has been completed and all systems are go for athletics to start this
afternoon." Fennell told reporters in New Delhi.
The concerns on the state of the track started when Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards of Britain questioned the conditions claiming that they were not suitable for a high level competition.
After the athlete questioned the conditions, the organizers took upon themselves the task of repairing it and controlling the damage caused during the opening ceremony.
Fennell was also happy with the facilities that have been improved significantly in recent days. He added that a special lane designated for the Games traffic has helped greatly.
Kalmadi has remained defiant through out and is now happy with how the Games have started; he hopes that the trend would continue in the days to come.
"Well I congratulate all the countries who have won medals and I am happy that the host country has also won five of the 15 gold medals yesterday." said Kalmadi.
The start of the Games was marred by reports of filthy conditions at the athletes' village.
Some of the squads that came over for the event were initially lodged in hotels and rest houses across the city as they refused to settle in the Village. Moreover, many world famous athletes also pulled out of the games.
The past few weeks of negative publicity that had dogged the nearly Rs 70,000 crore mega-event, however it was quickly forgotten as the glittering opening ceremony, which encapsulated a fascinating mix of culture and modernity, kept the spectators enthralled
for more than two hours.
The ceremony has set the stage for 12 days of intense competition, which will see over 7000 athletes from 71 countries competing for their respective countries. Games would conclude on 14th October.
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