Citing concerns over health and security in Delhi, Australian discus thrower Dani Samuels has withdrawn from the country's Commonwealth Games team.
In a boost to pullout-ridden Commonwealth Games, veteran Olympic medallist Australian swimmer Geoff Huegill has downplayed security concerns and said he is committed to contesting in the mega event in India.
The disastrous build-up that marred the Delhi Commonwealth Games has been a lesson for next host Glasgow, which plans to keep preparations "athlete-centred and sport-focused" to avoid any glitches.
A rattled Australia on Monday warned that there is a 'high risk of terrorism' in Delhi during the Commonwealth Games, while New Zealand also expressed concerns about security arrangements for the event after a shooting incident in the Indian capital left two foreigners injured.
Rajapaksa had accepted a 'joint' invitation from the Indian government and the event organisers, and would be flying to India on Wednesday, according to diplomatic sources and protocol officials in Delhi.
The high-profile pullouts will not have any bearing on swimming and the events will see tough competition in the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Olympic champion Roland Schoeman said on Saturday.
With the Commonwealth Games less than a month away, at least two stadia as well as parts of the main sports venue, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, are yet to get completion certificates from civic authorities.
With the Omicron variant of coronavirus slowly spreading its tentacles in the country, a number of states enhanced surveillance to trace, track and quarantine contacts of COVID-19 positive persons while Delhi began genome sequencing of samples of all infected people and has prohibited Christmas and New Year gatherings.
Pullouts by top athletes will not dilute the track and field competition, the organising committee of the Delhi Commonwealth Games said on Monday.
Australian authorities have received intelligence about a plan by Al-Qaida-linked terrorists to take foreigners hostage during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, a report said.
Two Canadian Athletes have withdrawn from the Commonwealth games, both of them are archers. One is former World Champion Dietmar Trillus and other is Kevin Tataryn and both have cited concerns about health and safety.
India's wrestlers have proved to be a big hit and have been a major contributor to the gold medal rush for the hosts at the ongoing 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Netball New Zealand (NNZ), Hockey New Zealand (HNZ) and the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) have hired independent security consultants ahead of next month's Delhi Commonwealth Games.
It took seven years and Rs. 5 crore for a company to build a Foot Over Bridge (FOB) near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which then collapsed. The Indian Army, which was called in to salvage the Delhi's pride and build a temporary FOB, has done the same job in four days flat and at a fraction of the original cost.
The opening ceremony of the XIX Commonwealth Games in New Delhi has drawn unparalleled applause from across the world by overhauling fears of chaos with a 'spectacular' event.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Wednesday that the cancellation of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games would be bad for the future of the games movement as well as for India.
Olympic champion Leisel Jones and former world champion Geoff Huegill will lead a 52-strong Australian swimming contingent, including 31 debutants, in the Delhi Commonwealth Games this October.
The spate of withdrawals from the Delhi Commonwealth Games continued with Canadian diver Meaghan Benfeito and badminton player Alvin Lau becoming the latest to opt out of the event citing contrasting reasons.
Dragflicker Sandeep Singh converted two penalty corners to help India inflict a 3-1 defeat on England in their second practice match ahead of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Tuesday.
'Now call it off!', 'Games in crisis' screamed British tabloids about the forthcoming Commonwealth Games to be held in the Indian capital saying the shoddy preparations for the mega event were a blow to India's pride.
While India struggle to get ready for next month's Commonwealth Games in Delhi, organisers for next year's cricket World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have struck an altogether more confident note.
As the Australian contingent left for home after the conclusion of the Commonwealth Games, allegations have surfaced that their athletes at the Games Village indulged in hooliganism and damaged some property.
The Indian hockey team's former technical adviser and current Australia coach Ric Charlesworth lambasted the Delhi Commonwealth Games organisers, calling them "crazy" and "disrespectful" for scheduling matches in the middle of the day.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai has said that British officials were so impressed by the manner in which the Delhi police and other agencies handled the security at the Commonwealth Games yesterday - the opening Day - that they wanted lessons for the 2012 London Olympics.Before the opening ceremony, Home Minister P Chidambaram had done a recce of many of the stadiums, including the Talkatora swimming pool, to supervise the security arrangements.
Double European gold medallist Mo Farah along with defending champions Phillips Idowu, Lisa Dobriskey and Christine Ohuruogu highlight England's 100-strong athletics team for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi from October 3 to 14.
Former India number one Ritwik Bhattacharya was on Monday left out of the 10-member Indian squash team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi from October 3-14.
Peter Luczak and Anastasia Rodionova will spearhead Australia's challenge at the tennis event of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi as Tennis Australia on Wednesday named its squad, sans Lleyton Hewitt and Samatha Stosur.
Mohd Abdul Najeeb Qureshi on Wednesday equalled the national 100m record while qualifying for the semi-finals on the opening day of the track and field events which saw all the Indians, except two, making it to the next round in the Commonwealth Games.
Hamizan Amirul Ibrahim won the men's 56-kg weightlifting event to claim Malaysia's first gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Sports Complex in Delhi, on Monday.
A number of popular rock bands including Indian Ocean and famed singers like Daler Mehndi and Hariharan are likely to spice up the excitement at the Delhi Games with a series of dazzling performances for over a week.
Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra will spearhead the Indian shooting challenge in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games along with other top marksmen such as Gagan Narang and Manavjit Singh Sandhu.
"I reviewed the situation with Cabinet Secretary on Wednesday and I am satisfied that all necessary preparations will be in place by the deadline fixed," he told media persons in New Delhi.
Against the backdrop of construction delays and missed deadlines, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit a few Commonwealth Games venues in New Delhi on Sunday for an on-the-spot inspection of the facilities.
Former Commonwealth Games diving champion Peter Waterfield is the latest British athlete to withdraw from the troubled Delhi Games.
All of 18, World Youth champion Vikas Krishan (60kg) has become the youngest member of the reshuffled core group of Indian boxers for the Commonwealth Games from which nine were axed after failing to impress in the just-concluded National Championships in New Delhi.
Absence of a foreign coach and lack of facilities at the newly-built swimming complex have left Swimming Federation of India (SFI) worried about India's medal prospects in the sport at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
New Zealand Federation of Athletes chief Rob Nichol said that 'hand on heart' he cannot say whether his country would send a team to the Commonwealth Games.
Satisfied with the security for the Commonwealth Games as of now, but jittery nonetheless, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association on Friday said it continues to keep a 'watching brief' on how things unfold in the run-up to the October 3-14 event in Delhi.
With 17,51,555 people defeating the disease, the recovery rate has surged to 71.17 per cent.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, senior vice-president of the Bhartiya Janata Party, has alleged that in the name of developing Delhi for the Commonwealth Games in October later this year, the development of certain individuals is becoming more visible. Speaking to rediff.com, Naqvi said the Government of India should step in and control the needless expenditure being incurred.
