Why did Maldives withdrew from participating in 2018 Commonwealth Games?

Why did Maldives withdrew from participating in 2018 Commonwealth Games?

Maldives were supposed to participate in the 2018 commonwealth games to be held in Australia. But in the month of October 2018 the island nation of Indian Ocean withdrew from participating in the commonwealth games. This leaved the tally of countries participating in the games to 70. 

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Scotland said "she was saddened by the Maldives' decision to leave".

Similar statement was given by the foreign ministry of Maldives. They said ""The decision to leave the Commonwealth was difficult, but inevitable."

Main reason for Madives quitting is said to be unfair treatment  after resignation of the president and transfer of the powers in the country. 

Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Countdown

2018 Commonwealth GamesCountdown

Countdown for the 2018 commonwealth games has begun and its only a matter of few months left for the games. You can keep a check at the time left here at the blog.

 Common Wealth Games official beings on Wednesday, 4 April 2018 at 09:00

Commonwealth Games 2018 in Australia - 21st Commonwealth Games

Time flies and that's 100% true. It was in the year 2010 that I started this blog on Commonwealth Games. Prior to that there wasn't much interest for these games in me but my country hosting this mega event made me curious for the event and that was the beginning. From that time I follow the games very closely, though I don't blog every time about the games. Today its about less than 2 years left for the 21st Commonwealth Games to start. Soon withing few months we will start hearing headlines about the games, games village, teams qualifying and of course the Queens Baton relay. The baron relay is the most exciting part for me.

This time the hosting nation is the beautiful country Australia and the tournament begin on April 4, 2018. Next 11 days it will be games event and the final ceremony will be held on 18th April 2015.

Who is the boss of the 2018 Commonwealth Games?

 Met Mark Peters a former Australian baseball player and one of the leading sports administrators  in Australia. He has captained Australian national basebal lteam and played for the country for more than 10 years. He holds the position of  CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the Gold Coast City 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation. He was also the main person behind the successful bid to host the commonwealth games and the same thing earned him the position for CEO of the games. 


We wish the Australian government all the very best for this mega event!

Commonwealth Games Event Today

The opening ceremony of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games was great and Queen announced the games open. Today we'll see players competing for various sports. Main competitions for today are:

• Badminton
• Cycling
• Rhythmic Gymnastic
• Hockey
• Judo
• Lawn Bowls
• Netball
• Squash
• Swimming
• Triathlon
• TT
• Weightlifting

Badminton: Currently Badminton match between Malaysia and Barbados is being played. It will be followed by match between India and Ghana. Here is full schedule for Badminton matches today:

1. Maaysia vs Barbados
2. India vs Ghana
3. Kenyna vs Uganda
4. Scotland vs Seychelles
5. NZ vs Guernsev
6. Aus vs Wales
7. Canada vs Falksland Island
8. Singaspore vs Jamaica
9. Norfolk Island vs South Africa
10. Eng vs N Ireland
11. India vs Uganda
12. Kenya vs Ghana
13. Scotland vs Guersnev
14. NZ vs  Seychelles
15. Mauritius vs Jersev

In cycling track event there would be qualifying spring for men and women first followed by First round, semi finals and finals. 

In Rhythmic gymnastics there would be team and individual qualifying rounds subdivision 1 and 2


In hockey there are couple of matches to be played today for both male and female hockey competitions. Here is the full schedule for hockey matches in Commonwealth games today:

Womens Hockey Matches Today:

1. Australia vs Malaysia
2. England vs Wales
3. South Africa vs T&T

 Mens Hockey MatchesToday:

1.  England vs T&T
2. New Zealand vs Canada

Judo & Lawn ball matches will be played whole day starting from 10 am till last match that will start 7:38 pm. 

In netball there are 4 competitions today:

1. Malawi vs N Ireland
2. Australia vs Wales
3. T&T vs Barbados
4. St. Lucia vs Jamaica

In triathlon we could see the first medals and both men and women triathlons are being played today. Mixed triathlon will be held on 26, July.

Enjoy the games and keep a close eye on the medal tally. 



 

Commonwealth Games 2014 Opening Ceremony

There is not much time left for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth games to start. Queen will formally announce the games open at Celtic Park , Glasgow. A crowd of around 40,000 spectators is expected to watch the opening ceremony of the games. Millions of people will watch the ceremony live on TV from various parts of the globe.

As is the ritual for every major competition, the players from various participating nations will parade in the opening ceremony along with some performance from local and international groups. The previous host nation will lead the parade and the current hosts will be the last in the parade. Today will be the day for opening ceremony only. From tomorrow we'll see 10 full days of sporting events. 

Our best wishes to all the participating nations and athletes.

Meet the Indian Male & Female Boxing Squad for Commonwealth Games

In the recent times, Indian boxers have earned a good reputation in various international boxing competitions, including the commonwealth games. Both male and female boxers from India have performed well at international stage recently. There are huge hopes from the boxers this time and they are expected to earn a few medals in Glasgow, Scotland.  Out of the 101 medals India won in last commonwealth games 7 were from boxing. Not sure about this edition of the games but I wish the boxing team good luck and hopefully they could increase the count this time and reach double figures.

Let me introduce you to the male and female boxing squad for India this Commonwealth games.

Male Boxers from India for Glasgow Commonwealth Games:

• Devendro Singh - This guy from Manipur won gold at the Bocskai Invitation Tournament in Hungary.
• Shiva Thapa - This boxer from Assam has got various medals at junior level and was the youngest boxer to qualify for 2012 London Olympics.
• Manoj Kumar - Manoj Kumar won Gold medal for Indian in 2010 CWG games and he also won bronze medal in 2007 and 2013 Asian Championships.
• Mandeep Jangra - This guy might be the trump card this year in the 69 kg category.
• Vijender Singh: Vijendar is perhaps the only boxer in India who is recognized by masses. A winner of bronze medal in both Olympics and Word Champions, he is the most popular boxer in India.
• Sumit Sangwan - Sumit is a known face at state and national levels. We wish him good luck at international level as well.
• Dinesh Kumar - Got silver medal in Asian games.
• Praveen More - High hopes on him in the +91 kg category.
   

Female Boxers from India for Glasgow Commonwealth Games: Female boxing is making a debut to the Commonwealth games and this is a nice time for female boxer to make a statement here.

• Pinki Jangra: This boxer from Haryana qualified to play for India after defeating the 5 time world champion and Olympic Bronze medal winner M C Mary Kom in the trials. Mary Kom was on a long break from Boxing after giving birth to her third child. Mary Kom was expecting a comeback but she'll have to wait for a while. Hopefully Pinki Jangra will meet the expectation of the country and perform well in the games.
• Sarita Devi: Sarita Devi has won a silver medal in World Championship. She has been consistent performer and winning medals in Asian Women Boxing Championship since 2001.
• Pooja Rani: Her rise in the boxing is just like a movie story. With opposition from her father in taking the game as a profession, this girl has yet lot more to achieve. 

Indian Men's Hockey Women’s leaves for Commonwealth Games

Followed by the women team, the Indian men's hockey team left for the Commonwealth games yesterday. The male hockey team from India will play the first match on 25th of July a day after the female team have played their first match against Canada. Indian men will play against Wales in their opening match followed by matches against Scotland, Australia and South Africa. Here is full details of the matches to be played by India Hockey team in the Glasgow commonwealth games:

• Match 1- Against wales on July 25 at 13:30 IST
• Match 2 - Against Scotland on July 26 at 20:30 IST
• Match 3 - Against Australia on July 29 at 18:30 IST
• Match 4 - Against South Africa on July 31 at 20:30 IST.

If the team performs well they might qualify for the knock out stages.

This team has won silver medal in the last edition of Commonwealth games held in Delhi, India in the year 2010. But the teams recent performance in the hockey world cup 2014 was not satisfying and they ended up at number 9 position.

Indian Hockey Women’s Team leaves for Commonwealth Games

With less than a fortnight left for the commonwealth games to start in Glasgow, the Indian women’s hockey team today left for Scotland today. Commonwealth games will start on 23rd of this months and the Indian female hockey team will have sufficient time left to accommodate themselves to the conditions there and get the necessary preparations done.

Indian team have left the country on a high with recent win over Malaysia (6-0 series whitewash). The first match, female hockey team will play against Canada on 24-July. The other teams they will play include New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago and South Africa. Trinidad & Tobago hockey team got the entry to this year commonwealth games after Pakistan team didn’t send the hockey teams.
In the last commonwealth games the team was unable to make it to the next round of semi-finals but this year team is focused on making it to the finals. The coach Neil Hawgood and the captain Ritu, both are very positive about the team fitness and form this time.

News about Men’s hockey team: Sardar Singh has been retained as captain of India Men’s hockey team for the commonwealth games.

Our best wishes to both the teams. 

Folk Musician from Rajasthan to Perform in 2014 Commonwealth Games

The famous group "The Kawa Brass Band", known for playing Rajashtani Folk tunes will perform at  Commonwealth Games this year. This band that consists of 10 members have already performed in Commonwealth games that were help in Australia.

The band will give a one hour long performance along with the famous Kawa Musical Circus and the Musafir band. Apart from the one hour ceremony band will also take part in daily parade at the games village. Daily parade will be help twice a day. This is as exciting this to watch  apart from the games.

Though FIFA world cup is taking the world by storm, soon the commonwealth games will find the place in national and international media. Let the games begin from in 20 days from now.

Who would grab maximum medals in Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Now its less than 100 days for the 2014 Commonwealth Games to start and I'm excited who will top the points tally this time. In the 2010 commonwealth games there were held at New Delhi, India the toppers in point table were Australia (177), India(101), England (142) and Canada (75).

Australia, England has been consistent performers in Commonwealth game, but the hosts India were the surprise package as they get the best ever performance in the games history. Now we all have to see if it was only the home advantage or really the standards of the games and athletes in India is improving.

As per my opinion this time India can slip out of top 5 whereas Australia, Canada and UK would manage to be in top 5. Maybe South Africa could be a surprise entry to the top 5.

Lets wait for the games to start and we'll get to see the winner of Glasgow Commonwealth Games soon.

100 days to go - The countdown begins

Now its 100 more days and the common wealth games 2014 will start. 23May the the opening days for the games and we are excited for the games. Let the games begin soon.

No Smooth sailing of Quees Baton this time

It seems that the Queens Baton relay can face some difficulties this commonwealth games. Right from the day the Queens Baton Relay started its facing some challenges like Change of program for the batons route in India due to the festival season. Then the queen Batons route again was changed due the pulling of Gambia from the commonwealth games.

Now today when the Queens Baton was to reach the holiday paradise Maldives it might face some strong violent protest going on in the country. There are some issues related to elections n the country that caused problems and some violent protest in Male. The Batons has to stay in the small island country for 2 days. We'll keep you updated about the Batons relay.

Recently the Baton had a successful outing of Sri Lanka and an average relay ceremony in Pakistan with some officials absent on the event of Baton relay.

Another chance to secure 2014 commonwealth games tickets

The Commonwealth Games 2014 to be held at Glasgow is going to be the biggest sporting event int the history of Scotland. The response form the public is already tremendous.  The games authority have already received more than 2 million requests for one millions tickets. The first lot of tickets were held few days back and now the public has another chance to get tickets for various events of the games mega competition.

This special chance is for those who have not received any tickets in the previous application phase. The exclusive exclusive on sale window will be available at the website https://tickets.glasgow2014.com. and would serve on first come first get basis for 5 days from 21-Oct to 26-Oct. First two days of the sale are reserved exclusively to those fans who have not got any ticket from the previous application.

Hurry and grab the tickets now. Best wishes.

Related post: http://commonwealth-games-blog.blogspot.com/2013/09/common-wealth-games-2014-tickets-costs.html
 

Route for Queens Baton Relayed to change after Withdrawl of Gambia

As mentioned in the previous post, Gambia has withdrawn from the Commonwealth Games 2014 and no longer wish to be part of the Commonwealth Nations. Since now only 70 nations would be participating the queens batons will cover journey to 70 nations only. The launch of The Queen's Baton Relay took place on 9th Oct where the hidden message of queen was placed in the baton, then Baton begin the Journey to previous host country India and spend around 3 days before heading to Bangladesh.  From Bangladesh it will head to Pakistan.

Here is the complete route of Queens Baton relay (Revised after Gambia withdrawal)

1. India
2. Bangladesh
3. Pakistan
4. Sri Lanka
5. Maldives
6. Singapore
7. Malaysia
8. Brunei
9. Australia
10. New Guinea
11. Solomon Islands
12. Nauru
13. Tuvalu
14. Samoa
15. New Zealand
16. Kiribati
17. Cook Islands
18. Tonga
19. Niue
20. Norfolk Islands
21. Vanuatu
22. Sierra Leone
23. Ghana
24. Nigeria
25. Cameroon
26. Kenya
27. Uganda
28. Rwanda
29. Tanzania
30.  Seychelles
31. Malawi
32. Zambia (Please note that its Gambia that withdraw from the games not Zambia)
33. Namibia
34. Botswana
35. Mauritius - This is the only country apart from my home nation India that I've visited. A beautiful nation, with lots of natural beauty, crystal clear waters. Read my experience with Maurituis holidays here.
36. Mozambique
37. Swaziland
38. Lesotho
39. South Africa
40. St Helena
41. Falkland Islands
42. Guyana
43. Barbados
44. Grenada
45. Trinidad & Tobago
46. St Vincent & The Grenadines
47. St Lucia
48. Dominica
49. Antigua & Barbuda
50. Montserrat
51. St Kitts & Nevis
52. Anguilla
53. British Virgin Islands
54. Jamaica
55. Cayman Islands
56. Turks and Caicos Islands
57. Bahmas
58. Belize
59. Bermuda
60. Canada
61. Cyprus
62. Malta
63. Gibraltar
64. Jersey
65. Guernsey
66. Isle of Man
67. Northern Island
68. Wales
69. England
70. Scotland

Will try to keep you update about the queens baton relay. 

Indian Festivsal Season & Queens Baton Relay

"We look forward very much to bringing the baton and sharing our excitement and enthusiasm for the Commonwealth Games with the people of India next week, as planned" This is the message from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Committee however Queens baton relay might face some problems in Delhi due the festival season.

The baton is schedule to visit India next week and then continue the journey to around 71 participation nations. The baton contains queens message which she will read on the opening ceremony of the games. The hand written message read by her majesty, the queen marks the opening of the Commonwealth games.

The Indian authorities have already told the commonwealth representative about the inability to hold the baton relay in Delhi, which coincides with the major Hindu festival called Dushehra. Dushera is celebrated with great job in India. It marks the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana, this day there can be traffic problems as people come out to see the fireworks held throughout the country.

Taking the immediate steps, the 2014 Commonwealth Games organisers  in Glasgow have already sent a team to India. The team is given the task to avoid any potential issues with the Baton Relay.

Sounds like this baton relay problem might be resolved by the organisers and IOA however another problem Glasgow commonwealth if facing that rumours are there that Gambia might withdraw or not participate in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Commonwealth Success Story - Athelete still waiting for promised job

It really feels sad to post a story like this. But I've to post this to bring the truth of the commonwealth games preparation, facilities given to the athletes and how false promises are made to take the credit or for vote bank politics in India.

This story is of a women athlete who won a gold medal in the 2010 commonwealth games, held in New Delhi, India. The name of the athlete is Anisa Sayyed from Pune. She won 2 gold medals in the shooting competition. On her winning two gold medal the then Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra promised her a Class I government job.

But in the last three years, there is no progress in this matter, despite being several communications made with concerned authorities.  The shooter is currently without a job yet preparing for the 2014 commonwealth games to be held at Glasgow along with some other international sporting events.

I hope that the concerned authorities will fulfil the promises made and the athlete can better focus on her training stuff etc. rather than requesting for job.

2014 Glasgow commonwealth games competition is not as easy as 2010 for India

India achieved the record second position in the medals tally in the 2010 commonwealth games that were held in New Delhi, India. This was the first time India won so many medal in the games history, however it'd be difficult for India to repeat this success in the 2014 Glasgow competition.

India is expected to get around 30 to 50 less medals this year. Reason for this is that many of the games that India won gold, silder or bronze medals are not included in the games this year. This means that there will be a serious impact on the overall medal tally for India.

Games that are excluded this time:

•  archery
• Greco-Roman wrestling 
• pair shooting
• Individual shooting events are less 

However this just sounds like an excuse for a country of more than 100 millions population. A country must be competitive to win each and every competition they particiapte and not only the ones they won medals previously or regularly.

My suggestion to Indian authorities is to stop wondering about what has already happened and could not be changed. Just focus hard on the sports person, provide them the training etc and get them ready for 2014 Glasgow commonwealth challenge.

My best wishes for all the teams and sportsperson representing India in Glasgow commonwealth games. 

Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 Venues, the tracks, grounds & stadiums

There is still a couple of months left for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 to start and the commonwealth organizing committee is doing a great job. Almost all the venues, roads etc are expected to get ready months in advance. In this commonwelath games 71 nations/regions will compete in total of 17 sports. This event will run for 11 days and the locations where these 17 sports contests would  take place (indoor or outdoor) are mentioned below:

Tollcross International Swimming Centre
Located at Tollcross Park in Glasgow’s East End, this simming centre has been upgraded recently with competion, recreation, training and fitness facilities. There is a capacity of 2000 spectator seats.

Glasgow National Hockey Centre
Up to the international standards this will feature the hockey matches and serves as new headquarters for Sotland hocket training etc. Also read T&T hockey team to play in Commonwelath 2014 after Pakistan teams exclusion

Scotstoun Sports Campus
This will host squash, table tennis games. Has a facility of 2500 seats for spectators alongwith gym, pool, TT, Badminton courts, running track, fitness centres etc.

Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls CentreFor Lawn bowls competitions, this centre has been upgraded recently.

Other venues includes:

• Cathkin Braes Mountain Bike Trails
• The Hydro
• The Barry Buddon Shooting Centre
• Emirates Arena, including the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome
• Strathclyde Country Park
• Hampden Park
• Royal Commonwealth Pool
• Celtic Park
• The Athletes’ Village

Meet Glasgow Commonwealth Games Mascot Clyde

Glasgow Commonwealth Games mascot called Clyde is now one year old and this Mascot will officially represent the face of the 2014 commonwealth games. Chances are there that for next few months till the tournament will start and end you can see the Clyde mascot all over Scotland and over print media, television and internet.  Same for the case for New Delhi Commonwealth games held in 2010 where Shera the official Mascot was seen all over India, specially Northern part of the country.

As I told Clyde is one year old and unlike other babies Clyde has been busy whole year spreading the word about the games.  Image below shows one such promotion for Clyde.

To know more about Clyde visit http://mascot.glasgow2014.com  or watch the video below:

T&T hockey team to play in Commonwelath 2014 after Pakistan teams exclusion

Internal board dispute has caused Pakistan hockey team not to participate in the 2014 commonwealth games. Though this is not a good news for a country like Pakistan where game is quiet popular and people connect emotionally to the game.

What happened is that the Pakistan Olympic Association got split into two bodies and only one of those by recognised by IOA. The Pakistan Hockey Federation backed by state sports authority thus showed no interest in POA that has IOC backing and decided not to send the hockey team. Interestingly the Pakistan hockey has failed to qualify for hockey world cup as well. I wish the disputed in the country get resolved soon and we'll need to seethe country doing well in hockey as they did in the past.

Pakistan hockey teams exclusion came as a good news for T&T hockey team. For a board who is facing financial crisis, participating in such a world class tournament would not only help financially but would be a learning curve for the team as well.