CWG Day 1: Australia take the lead

Day 1 of the Commonwealth Games comes to a close with Australia and Canada grabbing the most medals.

NEW DELHI: After a spectacular opening ceremony in New Delhi, Day 1 of the Commonwealth Games comes to a close.

9:00pm

Commonwealth Games medals table at the end of the first day:

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Australia	4	2	0	6
Canada	1	0	3	4
South Africa	1	0	1	2
Nigeria	1	0	0	1
Malaysia	1	0	0	1
England	0	3	1	4
India	0	2	2	4
Wales	0	1	0	1
Scotland	0	0	1	1

Australian swimmer Ryan Napoleon was denied an unlikely Commonwealth Games 400 metres men's freestyle gold by a fraction of a second on Monday after he beat a drugs ban and a dodgy stomach to reach the final. Canadian Ryan Cochrane edged out Napoleon by 0.11 seconds in

the final at the Dr. SP Mukherjee Aquatic Complex in Delhi in a cruel end to a difficult build-up for the Australian. (AFP)

8:10pm

Malaysia's Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim won the Commonwealth Games men's 56kg weightlifting gold medal, reports AFP.

The results for Men's Singles Tennis for Day 1 are as follows:

Rohan Bopanna (IND) beat Robert Buyinza (UGA) 6-1, 6-4

Greg Jones (AUS) beat Gavin Manders (BER) 6-1, 6-2

Joshua Goodall (ENG) beat Alberton Richelieu (LCA) 6-2, 6-2

Joshua Milton (WAL) beat Francis Thuku Mwangi (KEN) 6-0, 6-2

James Ward (ENG) beat Michael Leong (SOL) 6-1, 6-1

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) beat Duncan Kasumba Mugabe (UGA) 6-2, 7-6

David Thomas (BER) beat Ruchika Jawawickreme (SRI) 6-1, 6-2

Peter Luczak (AUS) beat Darian King (BAR) 6-3, 6-3

7:30pm

All across New Delhi, brightly-coloured posters plead 'Come out and play', but on Monday this teeming city opted to stay home instead as a wave of indifference greeted the Commonwealth Games, AFP reports.

The opening day witnessed matches played out at eerily empty venues, a worrying sight for besieged organisers hoping that Sunday's widely-applauded opening ceremony had finally laid to rest the problem-plagued build-up.

"Australia 76 Spectators 58" gloated the headline in the on-line edition of the Sydney Morning Herald after the opening match of the netball competition at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex which can hold 4,500 people.

"Australia's netballers scored more goals than there were spectators watching them, getting their Commonwealth Games off to the perfect start with a comfortable 37-goal win over Samoa on Monday," wrote their reporter.

"In front of a crowd which would have fitted in a bus - just 58 legitimate spectators - the Diamonds scored more than a goal per fan in a 76-39 cruise past Samoa."

Despite the withering cynicism, fans and officials were convinced the situation will improve as the 11-day event progresses.

7:00pm

Scotland and India draw 1-1 in the Commonwealth Games women's hockey Pool A match.

6:45pm

India’s Saina Nehwal, seeded to become the first Indian woman to win a Commonwealth gold medal, began the Games by leading her country to an opening day success in its bid to reach the team final when she beat Kenya’s Mercy Joseph 21-11, 21-4 in India’s 5-0 win over Kenya, AFP reports.

Results for Badminton Team pools for Monday are as follows:

Group A: Malaysia beat Isle of Man 5-0, Australia beat Seychelles 5-0, Nigeria beat Isle of Man 4-1

Group B: Singapore beat Northern Ireland 5-0, New Zealand beat Jamaica 5-0

Group C: Canada beat Uganda 5-0, England beat Falkland Islands 5-0

Group D: Scotland beat Barbados 5-0, India beat Kenya 5-0

6:00pm

Australia win the gymnastics men's team gold after edging out England in second with Canada third, AFP reports. Australia, with a total of 259.050 points, went one better than their silver medal in Melbourne four years ago. England finished with 256.750 points and Canada on 248.500.

5:55pm

Pakistan sweeps squash games with all four Pakistani players winning their matches!

Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Masud Rana (BAN) 11-2, 11-2, 11-6

Yasir Butt (PAK) bt Christopher Binnie (JAM) w/o

Farhan Mehboob (PAK x13) bt Sam Kyagulanyi (UGA) 11-3, 11-4, 11-8

Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Bruce Burrowes (JAM) 11-1, 11-5, 11-2

5:40pm

Twitter comments:

rogan200 Bloomin awesome swim from @LiamTancock in the 4x100m and he was cool as a cucumber in his 50 back semi. Obv finding great form #commonwealth

biopolymath Unexpected gold for south africa in swimming! #cwg#commonwealth

STizzler31 There's actually no one at the #Commonwealthgames! They should never have been awarded it in the first place

KiranKS Indian swimmers qualify for 4x100m freestyle relay final. First time ever! Hurray!! - http://bit.ly/co5Dbz || #CWG#Commonwealth

5:25pm

Malaysia beat Canada 3-2 in Group B matach Women’s Hockey.

AFP reports Norbaini Hashim scored two goals while Norfaraha Hashim scored one goal for Malaysia. Diana Roemer and Anna Kozniuk were the goal scorers for Cananda.

Australia's men won the Commonwealth Games 4x100m freestyle gold on Monday, coming back with a strong last leg to hold off England and defending champions South Africa.

South Africa's Chad Le Clos struck gold in the Commonwealth pool on Monday in a 200m butterfly race blown wide open by the absence of world number two Nick D'Arcy who failed to qualify.

Le Clos, 18, overtook England's Michael Rock, who led at 100m and 150m, to stretch away for his country's first gold in the pool in New Delhi in a new Games record of 1:56.48.

5:00 pm

Here's some negative Twittercism on the Games:

MolksTVTalk RT @AmeliaAdams9: Saw a fan rip up all their#CWG tickets at gate in frustration at lack of organisation. Feel your pain buddy. #delhi2010

gregorylent now more than seven hours w/out electricity in my tamil nadu town. maybe it went to Delhi for #cwg #incredibleindia

knight826 I heard opening of Bigg boss got more viewers than#CWG. #kashmir @hackernewbie

fairls seems to be a lack of atmosphere at the Comm Games crowd wise...a bit disappointing....#cwg

diksha_bajaj Didn't like the volunteer dress. Especially the orange one! #CWG

4:50 pm

The official weigh-in for the Commonwealth Games boxing competition ran into complete chaos with teams complaining of faulty test scales.

"The athletes weighed themselves on the test scales, and found themselves to be over. They got back to the sauna trying to lose some weight and when they came back, they weighed more than the last reading," Australia team spokesperson John Gatfield told Reuters.

4:35 pm

Express News reports that Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has taken notice of the flag-bearing fiasco at the opening ceremony of the games and has demanded that a report be submitted to him.

4:25 pm

Women's Hockey results are in as New Zealand beat Wales 5:1 in Group B Match 1 and South Africa thrash Trinidad and Tobago in Group A Match 2.

4:10 pm

Weightlifting 48kg Women Finals Group A  results are in:

Gold: Nigeria - NWAOKOLO Augustina Nkem

Silver: IND - CHANU NGANGBAM Soniya

Bronze: IND - ATOM Sandhya Rani Devi

There are a total of eight gold medals to be won on Day 1.

4.00 pm

Good news from the Pakistan camp at the CWG as Aisamul Haq Qureshi wins the opening tennis match defeating Mugabe Duncan Kasumba of Uganda in straight sets.

According to an AFP report, angry Pakistan weightlifters threatened a Commonwealth Games walkout after an embarrassing opening ceremony scuffle saw a top official snatch his country's flag from a national sports hero.

Chef de mission Mohammad Ali Shah insisted on carrying the flag at the head of the team parade during Sunday's showpiece instead of the country's celebrated former gold medal weightlifter Shuja-ud-Din Malik.

Pakistan weightlifting manager Rashid Mehmood said the team had considered a boycott in protest at the humiliation suffered by Malik, a gold medallist at last Games in Melbourne four years ago.

"It was a shameful act because holding the flag was Malik's right and it was decided before the Games that Malik would carry the flag in the opening ceremony," said Mehmood of an incident witnessed by 60,000 people inside the stadium and a worldwide television audience of millions.

"It was an embarrassment for Pakistanis all around the world as television showed the name of Malik on the telecast under a picture of Shah carrying the flag and we considered a boycott but decided against it."

Aqil Shah, vice-president of the Pakistan Olympic Association, added: "I was shocked to see the chef de mission holding the flag. "Holding the national flag is always the prerogative of an athlete and that's decided before the ceremony.

"I was the chef de mission of the Pakistan delegation on various occasions and never tried to hold the flag in the opening ceremony, because it is the right of the athlete. This controversy should have been avoided."

Former hockey star Shahnaz Shaikh has demanded an inquiry into the controversy. "I was shocked to see Shah snatching the flag from weightlifter Shuja Malik and carrying it.

It was unacceptable and I demand an inquiry against Shah." Reports here said Pakistan Olympic Association president Arif Hasan had intervened to avoid a boycott by the weightlifting team.

The Twitter buzz

KiranKS What's wrong with you #Pakistan weightlifters? In spite of sending #Mumbai killers, your country got a rousing welcome at#CWG. Just lift :(

jothishnair1010 Pakistan grapples i in #CWG too! Flag bearing controversy! yeh log kabhi sudharega nahin!

mgupta1405 yesterday fight of #pakistan players in #cwg show their mindset. they always remain confused

pakstruck god #pakistan players fighting among themselves over opening ceremony flag row #CWG2010