CWG Day 5: Australia goes beyond reach
8:00pm
Kenya's Grace Momanyi won the women's Commonwealth Games 10,000m title on Friday in a time of 32:34.11, AFP reports.
Dimitris Krasias of Cyprus won the horizontal bar gold medal in the Commonwealth Games gymnastics competition, with Loran Anderson of Canada taking silver and Max Whitlock of England bronze.
Australia's Simplice Ribouem won the Commonwealth Games 85kg weightlifting title. New Zealand's Richie Patterson took silver with Canada's Mathieu Marineau winning bronze.
7:30pm
Australia teen Yolane Kukla made history by becoming the youngest Commonwealth Games swimming gold medallist this centur, AFP reports.
The teenager - aged just 15 and nine days - won gold in the 50m freestyle in a closely-fought race in which she was pushed all the way by England's Fran Halsall.
Also, Australia's Lauren Mitchell won her fourth gold in the Commonwealth Games gymnastics competition, collecting the beam title to add to her all-around, team and uneven bars titles.
Australia's Ben Austin won gold in the men's 100m freestyle S8 category race at the Commonwealth Games.
The 29-year-old saw off a challenge from Scotland's Sean Fraser to win in a time of 1:00.44. Fraser won bronze, with Australia's Blake Cochrane in bronze.
Lastly, Australia's Sophie Edington on Friday successfully defended her Commonwealth Games 50m backstroke crown in a new record time.
The 25-year-old touched home in a Games best of 28.00secs, just 0.03 of a second ahead of England's Gemma Spofforth, who picked up her second silver of the Games.
6:40pm
More gold for home team: India's Alka Tomar raised the roof when she took the 59kg freestyle wrestling title at the Commonwealth Games on Friday, handing the home nation its second gold in women's wrestling, AFP reports.
The biggest crowd of the week by far danced on their seats, jubilantly embracing one another and chanting the grappler's name as she took just one session to defeat Canadian Tonya Verbeek with a ruthless show of raw power.
This happiness was multiplied when Anita of India won the women's 67kg freestyle wrestling gold medal at the Commonwealth Games beating Megan Buydens of Canada in the final.
Meanwhile, Andy Turner of England won the men's 110 metres hurdles gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Friday in 13.38 seconds.
His compatriot William Sharman crossed the line second ahead of another Englishman Lawrence Clarke in third.
5:50pm
At the Commonwealth Games:
madversity The Emporia Complex at Connaught Place is looking good, all done up mela style for CWG crowd -- with street food stalls. #CWG
muzekez Meanwhile, getting very sleepy. It's exhausting watching all these elite athletes in action. Ahem. #CWG
jayadeeptp Saw an Indian win a gold medal in #CWG ,Delhi for the first time :) The latest gold medalist is 'Alka Tomar'
anjan22 Go to #CWG village! RT @PadmaLakshmi How to end muscle soreness? Epsom salt bath? Massage? Arnica? Done all. Any advice?
5:10pm
Ifeoma Nwoye of Nigeria broke the hearts of the home crowd when she defeated Indian favourite Babita Kumari in the women's 51kg freestyle wrestling final, AFP reports.
The Indian got by far the biggest applause at the Indira Gandhi arena as she stepped up to receive her silver but will look back on a final of missed opportunities in which she twice dropped Nwoye but failed to pin her.
Meanwhile, Australia's Leisel Jones on Friday won the women's 100m breaststroke gold for the third consecutive Commonwealth Games.
4:45pm
Australia's Meagen Nay on Friday won gold in the Commonwealth Games women's 200m backstroke, coming from behind in a perfectly-timed race to edge out England's Lizzie Simmonds, AFP reports.
Canada defeated Wales 2-1 in a Commonwealth Games women's Pool B hockey match here on Friday.
Blogger Rajiv Rai shares his view about the ongoing games:
However, it seems at the minute as if the people – and by people I mean the country’s poorest – are suffering the most. It has been reported that up to 3million people could be left homeless due to the games.
So when the media talk about the state of the athlete’s village or the stadiums, maybe they should look at the state of the country itself.
In a country already so heavily divided by wealth it seems as if the Games may even become the catalyst to further widen the gap.
3:50pm
Australia's Geoff Huegill on Thursday won gold in the men's 100m butterfly, breaking the Commonwealth Games record.
The 31-year-old veteran won in a time of 51.69 seconds, lowering his own best set in Manchester in 2002.
Australia's Michael Diamond and Adam Vella on Friday won the gold medal in the men's Trap Pairs event at the Commonwealth Games.
Australia teenager Yolane Kukla on Friday won the women's 50m freestyle gold in her first Commonwealth Games.
The 15-year-old Brisbane schoolgirl beat England's Fran Halsall and New Zealand's Hayley Palmer in a time of 24.86 seconds.
travisgc Somebody take my blood pressure. I'm a proud Aussie right now. #cwg #goaussies
_CHAANAH_ woooooooooooooo Geoff Huegill 100m Butterfly gold medallist!!!! #GOAUSSIES
jordanwindebank I still love hearing our national anthem at the Commonwealth Games. #goaussies
doraisspanish It's no surprise to me that our great country Australia is pumping out the gold at the #comgames but yet it is still satisfying! #goaussies
MonkeyMayhem100 @AussieJo_MP1502 no way? We got gold, silver & bronze???? #GoAussies HELL YEAH!!
3:20pm
Water quality was not to blame for a spate of sickness among swimmers, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell said on Friday, AFP reports.
"Three pools (including the main and warm-up pools) were tested. Tests showed that the water is in keeping with (required) standards. There is no problem," he told a news conference in New Delhi.
"We have checked with other teams and they are not having any problems."
Fennell ordered an urgent investigation on Thursday after reports that more than 50 swimmers from England and Australia had fallen ill and that officials suspected the warm-up pool was to blame.
Meanwhile Canada's Christine Girard won the Commonwealth Games women's 69kg weightlifting gold and Australian boxer Luke Jackson reached the Commonwealth Games lightweight quarter-finals and dedicated victory to a friend who lost a leg in an horrific work accident last week.
2:30pm
India's Somdev Devvarman pulled off the first leg of what he hopes will be an Australian double to reach the men's singles final at the Commonwealth Games tennis tournament on Friday, AFP reports.
The top seed won through 6-3, 6-1 against Matt Ebden and will face another Australian, Greg Jones, in the final.
Meanwhile, India defeated Trinidad and Tobago 7-0 in a Commonwealth Games women's Pool A hockey match.
Australia kept up their devastating assault on the track cycling medals with a new Commonwealth Games record in the men's team sprint to take their 11th gold of the tournament.
Also, Australia's Laetisha Scanlan and Stacy Roiall won the gold medal in the women's Pairs Trap event at the Commonwealth Games, while Cameron Meyer celebrated a third gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Friday as Australia's formidable endurance riders took the top two podium places in the men's 25km scratch race.
2:00 pm
Who's saying what in Delhi on Day 5:
"I guess I'm just numb. I'm devastated and disappointed. It didn't go my way and that's what I have to deal with. To run the race, do the victory lap and everything be okay and then be told you can't have your medal is horrible." - Australia's Sally Pearson after being stripped of her 100m gold medal
"It was a major communication blunder." - Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell after Pearson was only told of an appeal against her victory as she waited to receive her gold medal.
"Clearance should have been gained, but it's inexperience of holding major events. The planning should have been in place. If venues had been delivered earlier it would have been better. The absence of test events hampered preparations." - Fennell airing his frustrations over delays in obtaining permission for TV helicopters to fly into restricted airspace over the city to film road cycling and marathons.
"My (weightlifting) shoes are great, I love them. They are really clean and everyone is looking at them." - Turks and Caicos Islands's Michael Francois who arrived in Delhi having been a weightlifter for just three days.
"In a small country like Wales, when one family member plays the others will usually follow." - Table tennis player Ryan Jenkins who is in the Welsh squad alongside brother Stephen and twins Angharad and Megan Phillips.
"I think it's safe to say there is quite a bit of experience between the two of us." - Falkland Islands bowler Gerald Reive, who is 73, after playing with teammate George Paice, also 73, against Guernsey's Don Batiste, 69. Batiste's partner was Ian Merrien who is just 37.
1:45 pm
India's Vijay Kumar wins the gold medal in the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the CWG Day 5.
1:30 pm
It seems that prospects of a glitch-free CWG for India are not on the horizon as yet another scandal hits the waves.
Express 24/7 reports that money has reportedly been stolen from the room of Pakistan's Chef-de-mission Mohammad Ali Shah, President of the Sindh Olympic Association and also the Sindh sports minister. Dr Shah claims that Indian rupees 24,800 have been stolen from his room.
It is reported that the cleaning staff entered his room without permission.
1:15 pm
From a "toxic" pool to empty stadiums and faulty boxing scales, the first week of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games has served up daily blunders that have deepened India's embarrassment, AFP reports.
The event in the Indian capital, which finishes next Thursday, is the most expensive in the history of the competition, but could set records for another reason: being the most accident and gaffe-prone.
"I think a lot of it has been teething problems and because India has never hosted an event of this scale," sports marketing consultant Indranil Das Blah of Kwan, a consultancy, told AFP.
"But if the planning had been more organised then there wouldn't have been so many problems," he said.
The spectacular opening ceremony last Sunday gave no clue of the troubled preparations for the Games, which saw teams threaten to pull out, construction work finished at the last-minute and a bridge at the main stadium collapse.
Once the sport started, however, the rushed preparations - which left little time for practice or testing - appeared to take their toll.
Here is a 'blooper time-line', followed by angry Tweets:
The ceremony
"We were treated like cattle. It was disgraceful," Australian team chef de mission Steve Moneghetti complained afterwards, saying his athletes were forced to wait in searing heat before they appeared.
Day 1
On Day 1 there were farcical scenes at the official boxing weigh-in, which was eventually abandoned after faulty scales showed most of the fighters were too heavy. The scales were eventually repaired.
Day 2
On Day 2 organisers came under fire over the glaringly empty stadiums, even for crowd-pulling sports such as hockey or wrestling, which saw some competitors win medals in front of small groups of cheering family members.
Day 3
On Day 3, the athletics event faced a make-or-break few hours as 1,000 labourers toiled through the night to repair the track and field, which were badly damaged during the opening ceremony. When the sport got underway, spectators were bombarded by insects drawn to the bright floodlights, and many complained about the lack of food and drink and difficulties with heavy security.
Day 4
Thursday brought sobering news that three Ugandan Games officials required hospital treatment after a car accident at the athletes' village, when a "tyre killer" safety barrier malfunctioned under their vehicle.
An Indian team official was also hospitalised during the week with dengue fever, a mosquito-borne virus raging in Delhi that had caused many athletes to reflect on whether to take part before the event. Commonwealth Games organisers meanwhile launched an investigation into the water quality at the event's pool after reports that more than 50 swimmers had fallen ill.
Around 40 English competitors and 12 Australians had complained of feeling unwell after competing at the S.P. Mukherjee Aquatics Complex, with team officials insisting that the problem area was the warm-up pool. Plumbing problems were also reported at the athletes' village, where hundreds of condoms flushed down toilets are blocking sewage pipes.
By the end of the week even the international media had reached breaking point when the central information service, which provides results and schedules, was breaking down so often that a collective complaint was made.
LeftyMedia It sucks to be the swimmers in the #Commonwealthgames. They all contracted severe diarrhea from the water they swam in.
itsmejaykay The #commonwealth games in Delhi is a joke man. Stadiums falling apart, monkeys protecting athletes from other monkeys lool, its comical man
rac_fleming Disgusted by English protest leading to Sally Pearson being stripped of her gold medal in the #Commonwealth Games 100m... Cheap shot...
dr_aks78 #CWG http://t.co/xuZ7elu sania should represent pakistan only.............. she is a disgrace to india.......
GrNut Ok ... Frank Opinion... Sania looks more like a Jellybean than a tennis player. #CWG live : http://bit.ly/dlOL0p
Aexandrojr Paul Henry should be kicked out of Newzealand.#CWG
STizzler31 No surprise to see that more farcical events occurred last night in the #CommonwealthGames in #Delhi #BeyondAJoke
12:50 pm
Alison Shanks of New Zealand wins the gold medal in the women's 3000m individual pursuit cycling race at CWG on Day 5.
12:40 pm
Where the medal money will go
The Wall Street Journal speaks to Indian wrestler Rajendra Kumar, gold medalist in CWG 2010, about how he will spend his prize money:
Mr. Kumar, who turns 25 on Oct. 25, won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games' 55-kg Greco Roman wrestling competition on Thursday.
How do you plan to use your prize money?
I plan to use any prize money to practice and train myself for the upcoming Asian Games and the 2012 London Olympics.
I get a salary of just 15,000 rupees a month ($340) from the Western Railway where I work as a ticket examiner. In this time of inflation, that's barely enough to cover my living expenses. There are other expenses also, such as my wrestler's diet, sports kit, clothes -- all of which I have to pay from my pocket.
I am currently posted by the Railways in Ratlam, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, where the wrestling practice facilities are not good and there's a lack of good players. There are a couple of other wrestlers but they are in another weight category.
I've written two letters to the chief minister of Haryana (my home state) to give me a government job there. Haryana has good wrestling practice facilities and players, and I can easily get my special diet. I haven't heard from the chief minister yet.
The Haryana government recently announced cash awards of as much as 1.5 million rupees ($34,000) to Commonwealth Gold winners. Will that help you?
I have been playing this game for 10 years. I have a lot of expenses for the past several years that I have so far been paying myself. Anyway, I will use this money for further training.
Will you send some money home?
12:30 PM
India is speeding up in the race for golds as Gagan Narang and Imran Hasan Khan win the gold medal in the men's 50m Rifle 3 Position pairs event at the CWG on Day 5.
12:20 pm
Young English athlete Tom Daley is unfazed by ‘Delhi belly’ talk. The Guardian reports:
"Obviously I have read all the stories in the newspapers," said Daley, "but once we got here everything was great. My impression is that everything is clean, the food is great and the security is tight, I think it has been great so far."
Daley has only been in the Games Village 24 hours.
12:10 pm
India's Somdev Devvarman repelles an Australian threat to reach the men's singles final at the CWG tennis tournament on Day 5, AFP reports.
The top seed won through 6-3, 6-1 against Matt Ebden and is sure to face another Australian in the Day 6 final.
Devvarman, who has broken into the ATP world top 100 this year after a successful college-playing career in the United States, opened strongly with a break of serve to lead 2-0, but Ebden was soon back on level terms with a break of his own.
bipmistry Where are the audiences for the #CommonwealthGames in #Delhi. How can the organisers continue to get it so badly wrong? Fire them.
11:45 am
India and Pakistan will renew their bitter rivalry in a key CWG hockey match on Day 7 that organisers claim has been sold out at the 19,000-seater Dhyan Chand National Stadium, AFP reports.
A win against Pakistan will not only resurrect India's faltering campaign in the tournament but also put to rest all the talk about divisions in the camp following their demoralising 5-2 defeat to Australia.
India's Spanish hockey coach Jose Brasa, already in the news for his run-ins with his employers, said on Day 4 that the team needed a sports psychologist, but captain Rajpal Singh immediately dismissed his suggestion.
"This is his thinking. I don't think there is need for a psychologist," Singh snapped.
11:30 am
It is a good start to Day 5 for India as it wins its 15th gold medal of the CWG in the women's recurve archery event today, beating England 207-206 in a thrilling final. Congratulations!
11: 15 am
The stories at the CWG continue as an athlete loses her gold medal at the CWG.
Australia's Sally Pearson said on Day 5 that she was "numb" after being stripped of her CWG 100m gold medal for a false start.
In a dramatic chain of events in the final lateon Day 4, Pearson was first across the line in a time of 11.28 but was forced to endure an agonising wait for the outcome of a series of protests.
She eventually had her medal taken away hours later, elevating Nigeria's Osayemi Oludamola (11.32) into first and Natasha Mayers of St Vincent and The Grenadines (11.37) into second.
England's Kathryn Endacott was promoted to third, with the medal ceremony due to take place later on Day 5.
While the electronic timing system showed Laura Turner of England as the first athlete to have jumped the gun, Pearson's reaction time of 0.071 meant technically, she had also false-started. England protested in order to get Endacott into the medals.
It prevented Pearson becoming Australia's first CWG 100m champion in 36 years and she said it was a devastating outcome.
"I guess I'm just numb right now, I don't really know what I feel. I'm obviously devastated and disappointed," she said.
"It didn't go my way and that's what I have to deal with. I'm just going to use my emotions and my anger and disappointment and put it into the hurdles and hope that I can come out on top."
11:00 am
South Africa hold Australia to a 1-1 draw in a CWG women's Pool A hockey match on Day 5.
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