Old guards miss place for Games

The national amateur boxing side coach Pimentel Hurtado has named 19 new faces in his 20-man provisional squad for the All-Africa Games planned for Maputo, Mozambique in September. The Cuban coach, now in his second year in charge of the team, has retained only one boxer from the team that competed in the 2010 Common wealth Games in New Delhi, India. For the first time in more than 40 years, Tanzania’s envoys to the Commonwealth Games failed to win a single medal.

It was the country’s most unsatisfactory outing in the Games since boxer Titus Simba won the country's first silver in 1970. Unveiling the team yesterday, Hurtado named Suleiman Kidunda as the only pugilist old guard in his squad. Kidunda is said to have attracted a panel of coaches named by the Boxing Federation of Tanzania (BFT) to assess the pugilists after some impressive performance during the National Championship in Dar es Salaam newly.

Hurtado said indiscipline was a major factor behind the failure of most boxers who represented the country in the 2010 Games to earn a recall to the team."It’s nearly one and a half years since I was unveiled as the national boxing team coach. I have been with the team since September 2009. “A few days before heading to India for the Common wealth Games, I noted that some of my boxers were unmanageable. Thus the BFT I and agreed on picking only the boxers who are disciplined for the All Africa Games and other international competitions,” he disclosed.

Daniel Repacholi named Cessnock City Sportpserson of the Year

Delhi Common wealth Games bronze medal winner Daniel Repacholi was named Cessnock City Sportsperson of the Year 2010 at the gala presentation night held at Cessnock Supporters Club last Friday night. Daniel, who won his medal for pistol shooting, had received two monthly nominations that led to his win from a hot field of seven senior finalists. Daniel was in Melbourne on Monday morning when The Advertiser contacted him to pass on the good news. He said he was thrilled to take out the award, adding that it was a great honour.

Daniel was in training for the Sydney World Cup shoot that will start this weekend. The event is a qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics. The 28-year-old fitter by trade will be up against some of the best shooters in the world. Cessnock Archery Club member Matthew McDougall was named the junior spot winner after one more planetary year of performances, winning the 3D Archery Association National Championships along with the State title. He had been named shooter of the year for the fifth year in succession.

The all-conquering East Cessnock Bowling Club No.1 Pennant team was a popular winner of the teams section after its second win in three years in the prestigious State event.Cessnock’s Sam Clough was named administrator of the year. He had been named as one of three national lawn bowls selectors. He had been a NSW Chairman of selectors. He had a high profile in deciding on Australia’s team to contest the Common wealth Games in Delhi.

Special recognition awards were made to Kurri Speedway for its efforts in bringing the sport back to the area, Cessnock Netball Association that celebrated 40 years in the city and Weston Bears, one of the highest performing clubs in northern Soccer. A big crowd of 125 nominees, their family and friends attended the function where guest speaker was Australian trampoline champion Ty Swadling.

Court grants bail to a firm's official

The Delhi High Court Tuesday granted bail to Binu Nanu, an official of a private firm who was held in legal custody for his taking part in the Rs.600-crore overlays agreement for the Common wealth Games last year. Justice Ajit Bharihoke allowed the bail application of Nanu on a personal bond of Rs.50,000 along with two sureties of like amount. He was arrested Jan 18.'Binu Nanu is granted bail as he has finished 57 days in judicial custody,' the judge said. The court asked Nanu to submit his passport to the trial court and to join the investigation whenever the Central Bureau of Investigation called him. It also told him not to try and tamper with evidence.

The court said he was released on bail because CBI officials submitted that they were not filing a charge sheet against him within the stipulated 60 days from the date of his arrest. The CBI officials said they did not require Nanu's custody anymore because they had already investigated into the matter and questioned his employees, said Justice Bharihoke.Nanu, the director of event management company GL Events-Meroform, said in the bail plea that he was remanded to judicial custody by a lower court on the finish of his four-day custodial questioning by the CBI.

The CBI Jan 12 searched the offices and residences of Nanu and many others after it registered a case in the alleged overlays scam.'Nanu's wife Roopana is also one of his links in the business,' the agency said.The case, the fourth in connection with the Games, was registered against former Games Organising Committee director general V.K. Verma. The CBI alleged that Verma and others enter into a 'criminal conspiracy' with managing directors and directors of private companies in the award of contracts for overlays for different venues of the Games at 'exorbitant rates'.

The overlays contracts are also under the scanner of the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate. The overlays incorporated supply of tents, pre-fabricated units, portable toilets, containers, security fences, furniture, public display LED boards, floor finishes, material handling equipment, gensets, cabling, air-conditioners, lighting, civil construction and exercise equipment.

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games on track

Director Gordon Arthur has responded to claims that Glasgow 2014 Common wealth Games has missed deadlines by insisting arrangements are "on track."Recent press reports suggested that milestones in the build-up to the event had not been met."We've not missed 50 milestones, we have re-phased," said Arthur."We are from the organising committee's planning point of view and the Games partners' delivery of infrastructure programme, in a very good place."

Arthur insisted the organising committee was keen to ensure that public money was being spent responsibly and at the right time."We've got huge sustain from the media right across Scotland," he told BBC Radio Scotland's Sport Nation programme."One is always going to get the irregular articles where people take a different stance."A year ago, when we put together our business plan, we set out mainly based on the guidance that we get from the knowledge transfer system that's run by the Common wealth Games Federation.

"Remember, we were only about 20 people in the organising committee a year ago. We set out a programme of work, but most of what we've been doing during the year, as well as recruiting people, is understanding better the task that we've got to do and a huge amount of that understanding and knowledge move takes you to re-phasing your work."So we haven't missed milestones, we've re-phased a lot of our work and the reason we do that is to make sure we don't recruit people any earlier than we need to, or spend money any earlier than we need to.

DDA builds giant steel sundial near elevated road

Months following the Common wealth Games 2010 got over, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is still completing Games projects. The latest is the beautification of the stretch under the Barapullah elevated road. The land agency, which had elaborate plans to build cycle tracks, urban plazas, walking trail entire with wooden street furniture along the 4.6km stretch, is starting off with a sundial. The giant sundial is being constructed in the space where the elevated Barapullah starts with a slip road on the Sarai Kale Khan ISBT side. Scheduled to be completed by next month, the sundial will be the focal point for the entry to the important road.

Said DDA spokesperson Neemo Dhar, "The work has already started. We hope that the construction will be completed by mid-April." The sundial, to be made of steel, has been planned by experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Added Dhar, "Since the sundial is a giant structure, we needed to bring in experts from outside who would build an instrument similar to that at Jantar Mantar." The steel dial, measuring 40 feet or 12 metres, is to come up on many pillars that will support the structure. DDA officials claim it's the first steel sundial in the country, with others being made of brick and mortar.

The experts from IIT were specially called in to construct the foundation on which such a huge structure would come up, added officials. Interestingly, the decoration of the stretch, along with the sundial, was originally scheduled as a Games project. The land agency had even set aside Rs 25 crore as funds, and had planned to divide the scenery based on the demography of the colonies the elevated road would be going through. The sundial was to come up as a reflection of India's heritage.