Games News

Two more pull outs
Toronto: Canadian diver Meaghan Benfeito and badminton player Alvin Lau became the latest to opt out of CWG citing contrasting reasons. While Benfeito has pulled out because of a shoulder injury,the 25-year-old Lau has cited university commitments. The duo joins archers Kevin Tataryn and Dietmar Trillus,in the list of Canadian withdrawals from the Games. “Meaghan’s withdrawal will definitely affect our medal potential in both the women’s 10m individual and 10m synchro events,” Mitch Geller,the chief technical officer for Diving Canada,said.

Indian para-paddlers upbeat about chances
New Delhi: The Indian women’s table tennis team plans to make a stiff challenge for the lone gold up for grabs at the paralympic tournament in the CWG. The troika of Bhavina Patel,Sonal Patel and Usha Rathore are optimistic about their chances in the event. “We have a good chance of a gold medal,” says coach Raj Aravindan. “Bhavina is the world Number 34 as per the last rankings and we have been practicing quite hard to win here.” The job is not easy,since the team will have to through a challenging league format,followed by the semi-finals and the final. India’s biggest challenge will come from Nigeria,England,Australia and South Africa.

Media puts pressure on athletes,says Jwala
New Delhi: Jwala Gutta feels the negative publicity surrounding the CWG has put additional pressure on the athletes. A seven-time national doubles champion,Jwala said there are things which should have been better taken care of but the media should also have been a bit “more responsible” while reporting about the event. “I feel very sad by the way things have happened in the build up to the Games. Well,the stadiums could have been finished earlier but then the Indian government have done so much and such reports would only put pressure on the athletes,” Jwala said.