huaiwei

The look on Sonia Gandhi's face was classic.

He is still speaking...thanking the PM for "setting an example" by sitting in the normal grandstand instead of the VIP seats. Wow...what example is that? Is he happy that the VIPS had to help fill up the otherwise empty grandstands?

And our best friend speaks.

Kalmadi was booed again when he was introduced earlier, was he? Anyway they are screening a commemorative video now. It's so lopsidedly Indian, it is more like a self-congratulatory video than anything.

Tiny Singapore just completed its most successful run in the CWG ever. This includes: - Ranked 8th in the medals table, its best ever (previous high was 11th in 2006) - Won 11 Golds, twice more than the previous record of five in 2006. - Won a total of 31 medals, equal in number to the combined totals won in both 2002 (13) and 2006 (18). - Swept 6 out of 7 Table Tennis Golds, coming very close to winning all. This was better than the four won in 2006. - Shooting Golds went from one to five, and has led to the government seriously considering building a proper shooting facility for training and competitions (which I would consider as one of the best outcomes of sport.) - Bettered its two-medal performance by winning three. - Won its first gymnastics medals (2) in CWG history. And all these from a country which won just four Gold medals and nine medals of any colour from 1958 to 1998, after having participated 11 times. It is my hope that the officials will make good its promise to expand Singapore's focus on developing sporting talent in a wider array of sports, and not to focus on only a few as it has traditionally done. In this games, for example, Singapore was represented in only eight sports. They have indicated an interest in further developing shooting, gymnastics, and to also pay increased attention to diving and cycling. Only when sports get more promotion, funding and support, can I say Singapore has come out winners.

The opening act focusing on martial arts was fine. The band sequence was just too long. I fail to see its relevance and significance to this event. And now it is still the athletes caught in what looks like a typical jam on India's streets.

There were 35 gold medals for shooting in 2006 (which India easily topped with 16 golds), and 35 this year. That they should do well again is hardly surprising. I fail to see what your point is, especially if you are trying to suggest India ramped up the number of events for its personal benefit. There were 35 gold medals for shooting in 2006 (which India easily topped with 16 golds), and 35 this year. That they should do well again is hardly surprising. I fail to see what your point is, especially if you are trying to suggest India ramped up the number of events for its personal benefit.

How has the attendance been like in athletes events? I am pretty sure I did not see full crowds either in Beijing, and I suspect athletes have been one of the hardest to fill since they have the highest number of seats?

Was that the men's team SF event?

Alright enough of complains over moths and such. Perhaps it is time to focus on more critical problems which has much more direct impact on participation and performance: Singapore's atheletes experienced two such issues yesterday alone. I wonder if others have been affected in this way yet: Granted, Singapore hardly has a chance to earn a medal in the swimming event, and they probably could also be blamed for trusting the Indian transport system too much, but it was a boo-boo to stop atheletes from competiting in the finals for reasons like this. And the shooting event was even more infuriating, when changing of lanes for shooters presumably targeted at Singapore's shooters (who won two out of four medals on the first day, with the other two won by the Indians) could have cost Singapore the gold medal.

As I believed so. Read too many media reports and we will all start to believe the athletes are wimps.

I am trying to picture this one. Kinda funny actually. Will the athletes complain of roaches blocking their track? And speaking about the track...anyone know what has happened to it? The shot put event seemed to have proceeded, but the track event is coming up soon...

Perhaps they were looking at filling the empty arenas with CGI figures before uploading the videos?

See the first post.

Didn't they just have an opening ceremony there? The track and field were ripped up for the show?

I am not sure if it is the western media, the western atheletes, or just plain bad luck. But I read about Aussie complains about being "treated like cattle" during the opening ceremony... http://www.smh.com.au/commonwealth-games-2010/comm-games-news/moneghetti-boils-over-openings-cauldron-20101005-165p4.html?autostart=1 ...and a Brit complaining about the transport. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/10/05/commonwealth-games-suffers-low-crowds-and-more-mishaps-115875-22610452/ Pertaining to the "cattle case", I am particularly curious over the comment How many opening ceremonies are the athletes going to attend in India, and how in the world could the obviously inept organisers for this games reflect anything on the OCs of future games?

Yea that just irritates. I get SMS alerts on my country's athletes winning medals long before I can see any evidence of it in their website. And it is tough trying to update wikipedia in good time.

From what I read, it was also a case of the ticket booths being "missing" at venues and locals wanting to buy tickets were turned away. And an organiser (can't rem if it was KAlmadi) actually said this happened on the first day because the OC went home late after the opening ceremony. Wow. Perhaps partying the night away thinking all their troubles are over.

Actually the athlete did put up resistance and there was a reported "tug-of-war" between them. Still, I would hardly consider this a fault of the Indians.

Yes, and if I may add to that, don't judge the games based on its condition before it opens. All those criticisms about the conditions in previous weeks, while not unjustified, are actually quite pointless as long as they are addressed before the games begin. China did all they did with an obviously corruptable government, and see the result? And inefficiency in government is not always reflected in the efficiency levels of organising committees. In this case, I felt it was the opposite. The government of India actually showed it was far mroe efficient than the useless team led by Kalmadi. Seriously, not Tokyo again. It is not as if the entirety of Asia has just one eligible candidate, and I am especially bored by the idea of former hosts trying to host again (needless to say, that partly reflects my mood towards London 2012. )

You will have to take that up with your broadcaster than. I have no problems at all with the feed I was getting except for a lapse of about 2 seconds. I gave it "very good". Perhaps a little too generous, but it was beyond expectations. No major goofs, and not even the minor ones I would expect from an event where there was too few rehearsals. The performers rose to the occasion despite all the difficulties, and full credit goes to them. And I am probably just plain biased, but I have always found ceremonies from Asia (and Africa, if they ever get there besides the WC) to be far more interesting to watch.

Other than the Beijing games and the Singapore YOG, this is also the first time I actually heard the entire speech in full without walking off to make some coffee. It was such fun listening to him trying to rescue his own arse in front of a hostile crowd!

Strange why the EU did not think of organising one...

Of course they can. A team of misguided Indians is hardly representative of Indian talent, and I am sure if the organisation is done by the right people, they will be able to pull it off even tomorrow.

I really feel we cannot compare what appear to be professional dancers doing traditional dance which they have experience in, versus mostly soldiers doing performances they have never done before in their lives. As I mentioned, the Indians were smart to stick to the traditional, which really do not require tonnes of practices and rehearsals compared to contemporary dance taught to non-dancers. They were probably told to just be themselves and do what they have always done, and that is why we could clearly see the natural spontaneity on display. I did also see this once in the Beijing games: the part towards the end when the various ethnic groups in China did their traditional dances as the fireworks exploded overhead. Pity this segment was short and not featured prominently as was the case here.