The Hindu : Manchester has come alive

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 26, 2002

Sport

Sport - Athletics

Manchester has come alive

By Kamesh Srinivasan

Jane Smith from England plunges into the pool during competition in the women's one-metre springboard preliminaries at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester on Thursday. — Reuters

MANCHESTER JULY 25. The competition is on, even before the Games could begin. We are not talking about the diving events happening hours before the inaugural ceremony. The real competition seems to be between the fever of festival and the 17th Commonwealth Games itself.

It was the spirit of festival that won the first round as the city came alive to vibrant music, from Bollywood to brass bands, samba to jazz, giant TV screens at the Piccadilly Gardens, Barbirolli Square, Cathedral Gardens, Great Northern Square and a few other places. The streets are suddenly buzzing with activities, with various performances.

The attempt is to extend Manchester's Commonwealth Games celebrations from the sporting arenas on to the streets so that everyone can enjoy the spirit of the Games.

The traffic in the city has been diverted not only for all the celebration, but also to ensure a smooth passage for the Queen's Jubilee Baton relay, on its final leg after travelling for 137 days in 24 countries, covering 59,000 miles.

A six-year-old girl, Kirsty Howard, has been selected to hand over the baton to the Queen, much to the joy of everyone. Kirsty was helped by David Beckham and his wife Victoria in raising funds for correcting her heart, which was back to front when she was born. She is indeed the symbol of courage and inspiration for the nation.

The spirit of friendship festival celebrates the idea of bringing together the greats in arts with the greats in sport. Eventually, the concoction is expected to push the whole nation to a new high.

Olympic 200-metre silver medallist Darren Campbell will carry the English flag, and he is floored by the honour.

The various venues are going through a last minute rehearsal of their own, for TV, for the technical officials, and in the case of gymnastics to the competitors themselves. There is a big crowd to watch the gymnastics sessions, and they all pay 10 pounds to gain entry. The music of the rhythmic gymnastics keeps them entertained more than the action itself.

It is indeed some experience to be travelling all alone in the media bus, brand new Mercedes-Benz vehicles provided by First Company for the Games.

The driver Nigel Ogden says `bahut accha' when one tells him about India. He has been to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, met the Dalai Lama, and has very happy memories of his visit.

Getting down at the Bolton Arena, which hosts the badminton events, one is impressed by the state of the art Reebok football ground. There are last minute touches being given to the badminton venue.

India has been seeded eighth and drawn with New Zealand, Mozambique, Seychelles and Northern Ireland in the mixed team competition featuring 20 teams. The Indian fortunes would depend on the performances of the 24th ranked P. Gopi Chand and the 62nd ranked Aparna Popat.

The England camp is upset about figuring in the same group as Malaysia, after having played it in the final in the last edition in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is seeded fifth, and that irks the English more than the Malaysians themselves. Only one team will make it to the next stage from the group.

Though the draw was up for debate, one could not help appreciating the fact that a lot of thought has gone into selecting the various venues, forcing the organisers to overcome the hesitation of hosting the events at distant venues.

The Wythenshawe Forum housing the facilities for professional boxing acts as an ideal venue for training of the boxers, and will be used for the initial rounds before the action shifts to the MEN arena.

It's a chance for Dalvir

The Indian boxers go about their task with a quite resolve. The team has been strengthened with Dalvir Singh, who had to stay at the Daisy Bank Hall along with the Indian women's hockey team for a day. He was quite relieved to get to the ring. The Indian officials were able to get his accreditation after the initial hiccups.

Like Dingko Singh proving a point in Bangkok, Dalvir has a chance here to prove his worth. His brother Balbir Singh won the gold in the World Cadet championship recently, and it remains to be seen whether the 20-year-old CISF employee makes a wave in the flyweight class.

Chief coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu was optimistic that the seven-member would put up a good fare to keep up with the tradition of good results in the last Commonwealth Games when Jitender Kumar won the silver, the last Asian Games when Dingko Singh captured the gold, and the last World championship when Mohammed Ali Qamar made the quarterfinals.

Of course, nobody can forget the fact that Gurcharan Singh was one punch away from getting a medal in the Olympic Games in Sydney. His subsequent defection has left a bad taste, and the team needs to get the results to revive the good times.

At the diving arena, Rebecca Gilmore of Australia goes through the experience of being the first one to compete in the current edition.

``It was a nerve wracking experience to be the first athlete to compete at the Commonwealth Games'', said Rebecca.

Pakistan camp was disappointed about Carla Khan, who lives in England, not being allowed to represent the country in squash. The 46th ranked Carla did not fulfil the eligibility criteria of having lived for at least two of the last three years in her own country, though she has competed in Pakistan to win the national title.

Meanwhile, the organisers are quite excited about having sold twice as many tickets as any other Commonwealth Games.

``We have sold over 90 per cent of our original ticket allocation for the public, and are getting close to breaking the world record of 95 per cent set by Australia at the Sydney Olympics'', says the Commercial Director for Manchester 2002, Niels De Vos.

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