Twenty-four hours before the XIX Commonwealth Games officially open in Delhi and Scotland’s athletes are “itching to compete,” says Jon Doig, the Team Scotland chef de mission.
First, though, comes the Opening Ceremony, which will involve a substantial contingent – but not everyone. “We introduced a policy that you don’t go to the ceremony if you’re competing on day one,” explained Doig.
“Taking part is emotionally draining and physically tiring, so it’s a blanket policy – you don’t take part.
“A lot of athletes are really looking beyond the opening ceremony now,” continued Doig, “because they’re all desperate for the Games to kick off.
“Once the competitions start on Monday, we’ll see athletes leaving in the morning and coming back after their events – and you can tell from their faces how they’ve got on. But it’s great – it’s what we’re all here for, and it’s a privilege to be involved.
“Everyone’s very happy, we have no problems to report; they’re settling into the village; and they’re happy with the venues.”
Doig also urged the athletes who make up Team Scotland to seize the opportunity presented by the Commonwealth Games to showcase their sport to a global audience.
“These Games represent a fantastic chance to bring attention and profile to sports that maybe don’t get much attention outside multi-sports games,” he said.
“We saw that in Melbourne, when our winning athletes really became well-known names back home, and there are huge benefits to their sports from their success.
“So everyone in the team has an opportunity here to put their sport in the spotlight, get some well-deserved recognition, and encourage some future champions.”
Scotland’s biggest ever cycling team arrived in Delhi on Friday, and 24 hours later the track riders were given an opportunity to ride the Games velodrome.
As well as experienced riders such as Ross Edgar, David Millar, James McCallum, Kate Cullen and Evan Oliphant, the 19-strong team includes some promising youngsters, among them 17-year old John Paul and 18-year old Callum Skinner.
Both sprinters, Paul and Skinner were among the first cyclists to ride the boards of the velodrome, and their verdicts were positive. “I’m really impressed,” said Skinner. “The venue is really nice and the track really is top class.
“The session went well and I’ve put in a few good times too which is good, especially as I only arrived in Delhi yesterday,” continued Skinner. “It’s all looking positive.”
“I’m glad we’ve finally got here and settled into the village,” said Paul. “It’s the first time I’ve been in this part of the world and it’s a bit different to what I’m used to, but it’s good.
“My last big competition was the Junior World Championships in August so since then I’ve just been trying to hold my form for the Commonwealth Games. Training has been going well and the session on Saturday was a good way of getting some of the tiredness out of my system after arriving yesterday.”
With Chris Pritchard and Kevin Stewart, and with Paul as reserve, Skinner will line up in the team sprint – the event in which Team Scotland are defending champions, with Chris Hoy, Craig MacLean and Edgar claiming a memorable gold medal in a close final against England in Melbourne four years ago.
A new event on the programme in Delhi is the women’s team sprint, where Jenny Davis and Charline Joiner will combine. Both were upbeat after their first outing on the track. “I’m feeling good after the session,” said Davis.
“I think when it comes to the track events starting – on Tuesday – the team will be in the best form possible,” continued Davis.
“The session on Saturday went really well, [it was] all personal bests for me, which is pretty good considering we only arrived yesterday. We were just doing flying hundreds [100m] today – my first effort equalled my personal best from the National Championships last week, and then my second effort took another couple of tenths off it.
“It’s nice to finally get here and feel like all the hard work is paying off. There have been plenty of ups and downs but now I’m really looking forward to competing.
“I’m in the women’s 500 on Tuesday and for me that is mostly about getting gate practice with the timer, because I need to nail that on Wednesday in the women’s team sprint,” added Davis. “If I can do that and if Charline can get on my wheel it could put us into the final.”
Joiner, meanwhile, said: “The venue is beautiful, I’m loving it. It’s my first multi-sport event and I’m really looking forward to competing in it. I can’t wait.”
The draw for the lawn bowls competition was announced today with Scotland preparing to face some power houses on the greens at the Jawaharal Nehru Sports Complex.
Scotland’s bowlers have medalled in lawn bowls consecutively in the last ten Commonwealth Games and are looking to continue their winning streak. They are represented in all six competitions and feeling confident after a successful warm-up match this afternoon against Canada.
Paul Foster clinched gold in the pairs in Melbourne and will take part in singles this time, facing six very strong countries from the ten in his pool.
“It looks to be the hardest draw of the two sections but you’ll never win if you worry about opponents, I just have to do my job. The greens are getting quicker with a nice draw which suits my type of play so if the wind stays away then I think I am in with a good chance.”
The women’s pairing of Caroline Brown leading and Margaret Letham as skip will play Wales first when their competition begins on the opening day of the Games and end the pool stages against England. Neil Spears and Darren Burnett join forces in the men’s pairs and will be tested against countries including Australia, Canada, Northern Ireland and South Africa.
Willie Wood, David Peacock and Wayne Hogg, reigning World triples champions, form an experienced triple team and are practicing hard with two comfortable wins over Canada and Brunei to start on a positive note. A notable tough day for the men will be 7 October when high flying New Zealand and Australia will be the opponents. Loraine Mallow will lead the women’s triples with Michelle Copper as skip and Lynne Stein in the middle. A fair draw for them that includes what should be an easy opener against Namibia and familiar faces from Jersey.
Claire Johnston is making her first Games appearance in the singles but like Foster, she is playing well and happy with her preparation. She said, “It is a hard draw for me but I am comfortable with how I am playing and if I can keep that up then a medal is certainly a target for me.”
The singles competition doesn’t get underway until the ninth October but Johnston is determined to stay focused.
“I will be practising hard until I compete, but also making sure I am here supporting the rest of the team and staying out of the heat as much as I can,” she concluded.
Team Scotland open their Delhi Commonwealth Games campaign on Monday keen to repeat the outstanding success of Melbourne four years ago. But for the boxers in the team, the pressure to maintain a winning run stretches back much further – to the first Games in Hamilton in 1930.
Remarkably, Scotland’s boxers have won a medal in each and every Games since then – that’s 57 medals in total, fourteen of them gold. In Melbourne the record was maintained by Kenny Anderson, who, with his pre-fight ritual of watching Braveheart and listening to motivational speeches, became one of the standout personalities of the Games en route to winning light heavyweight gold.
In Delhi the seven-strong boxing team – who will be subject to the weigh-in on Monday, before the competition gets underway on Tuesday – are confident that they can emulate their predecessors.
“Scotland does have an unbelievable record in the boxing,” said super heavyweight Ross Henderson as he looked ahead to his campaign. “But it doesn’t put pressure on us, it gives us confidence,” he added. “Our governing body is right behind us, we have great support from the team here, and we’re really confident, all of us.
“I’ve trained really hard for this – we all have. And it’s all about a gold medal – I’m here for a gold medal,” continued the 6ft 6ins boxer, who is, by a considerable margin, the tallest member of Team Scotland. (Discus thrower Angus McInroy is next, at 194cm to Henderson’s 198.)
Henderson says that his gold-or-nothing approach runs through the full squad. “That’s the attitude we all have,” he said. “We’ve got a really strong team here – Aston Brown, Iain Butcher, Joe Ham, Callum Johnson, Stephen Simmons and Josh Taylor – we’ve got a good bond between us, and we’re all here to try our best to win gold medals.”
It is Henderson’s second visit to Delhi this year, after he took part in the Commonwealth Boxing Championships in March, winning a bronze medal. “That gave us a taste of what it would be like to compete here,” he said. “We were in the same arena as we’ll use for the Games, which definitely helps.
“We train so hard that we couldn’t see much of the city – we weren’t here as tourists,” Henderson continued. “Now we’re resting, but still training twice a day, morning and night.
“I just can’t wait to get in that ring to represent my country and try to win that gold medal, and I’m very confident that if I’m at my best, it’s possible,” he added. “I’m not someone who gets on a computer and goes looking up the history of their past fights. I concentrate on myself; as long as I’m boxing the way I know I can box, I’m happy.”
Ross Edgar will lead Scotland into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi for Sunday’s opening ceremony to the Commonwealth Games, having been elected flag bearer by his teammates on Friday.
The track cyclist was one of the stars of Team Scotland in 2006 in Melbourne, where he became the first Scot ever to win the full set of medals – gold, silver and bronze – in a single games. Edgar followed that in 2008 with an Olympic silver medal in the keirin, and he arrived in Delhi having won the British keirin title a week ago.
The 27-year old touched down in Delhi on Friday to be told that he’d been elected flag bearer. He said he was both thrilled and surprised: “I never imagined I’d be the flag bearer.
“I never saw myself as someone who’d be chosen to do it,” Edgar continued. “But it means more because it’s been voted for by my fellow athletes, so I’m really proud and I feel that I’ve done my family proud. They’ll be really happy for me.”
Having for so long competed in the same teams as Sir Chris Hoy and Craig MacLean, Edgar said he was ready to take on the responsibility of leadership. “It feels a bit strange with Chris and Craig not being here, and I remember Craig did an amazing job as flag-bearer in Manchester,” said Edgar, recalling the Highlander’s exuberant performance in 2002.
“If I do half the job he did I’ll have done it well,” Edgar added. “Maybe I’ll get some tips from him. But I’m determined to enjoy it because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime honour.
“I do feel that I’m the leader of the team,” he continued. “I used to look up to Chris and Craig and I’m aware that I’m in that position now and that some of theyounger athletes will be looking up to me.
“I think the best way to lead is by example. It wasn’t something that Chris, Craig and I used to talk about, but they were confident and professional in how they went about things, and I try to do the same.
“You gain confidence from your personal performances, too, like I did at the Olympics and in Melbourne. My silver in Beijing and the three medals at the last Commonwealth Games are things that give you inner confidence and the knowledge that you can go out there and win medals.”
Edgar will ride the keirin and individual sprint in Delhi, having opted to let the younger members of the team contest the three-man team sprint. “I’m on standby for it, but it gives the younger guys an opportunity to race at the highest level, and an insight into what it’s like,” he explained. “There’s some young talent coming through, and this is a good opportunity for them to get experience for the Glasgow Games.
“I’m confident I can get a medal here,” added Edgar. “It’s a world class field with riders like Shane Perkins [of Australia] and [Malaysian Azizulhasni] Awang, so a medal here would make it all worthwhile. I’ll be really disappointed if I don’t get a medal, and I’m hoping, obviously, for gold.”
Sir Chris Hoy added his congratulations: “It’s great to see him getting some recognition for his achievements and I know his dad [David Edgar, who comes from Kilwinning in Ayrshire] in particular will be bursting with pride when Ross leads the team out.”
Congratulating Ross on his selection, Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland, said: “Ross is an outstanding athlete, who has quietly worked away for so long, in the shadow of Chris Hoy. I am delighted that today he has been recognised by his fellow team members as the true world class competitor we know him to be.
“He is the first Scottish athlete to have won a full set of medals at a single Games, which is truly exceptional. Ross has arrived today fresh from winning the British Championship in Manchester last week in the Keirin which we hope is a good omen for Delhi.”
Minister for Public Health and Sport, Shona Robison, said: “It is a great pleasure to share in this special moment with Ross Edgar.”
“To compete in your national colours is achievement enough but to be selected by your fellow athletes to carry the flag in a Commonwealth Opening Ceremony is a great honour.
“Our athletes are ambassadors for all of Scotland on the international sport scene. They are a source of pride for all of us and a source of inspiration for up and coming athletes who dream of following in their footsteps.
“I would like once again to commend the positive attitude of Team Scotland, who have dealt extremely well in what have been very challenging circumstances. On behalf of all of Scotland I wish our athletes the best of luck and I look forward to cheering them on from the stands.”
The event also marked the official opening of Scotland House at Le Meridien Hotel in Delhi which will be the focal point for all things Scottish over the next two weeks, as the Glasgow 2014 partners build up to the handover of the Commonwealth Games Federation flag as the host city for the 2014 Games.
Amongst Scotland’s hockey squads in Delhi for the Commonwealth Games are some very experienced players who will play an important part in guiding the younger players through tough pools for both the men and women’s teams.
Captaining the women is Linda Clement who is taking part in her third Games and has 153 capsin her international career so far. She has been part of the Scottish team since 1999 and will lead the team out on 4 October against India for a staggering 89th occasion.
Clement said, “For the last ten years, hockey has been a massive part of my life. As the years have gone on I have gained a lot of experience and being captain for a lot of those caps have been a huge honour.”
Two other members of the women’s team will reach their 50th caps during the games, namely Alison Bell, who scored in tonight’s 1-1 draw with Malaysia, and goal keeper Abi Walker.
When not keeping goal, Walker is a surgeon in London and finds hockey as a good release from the stress and pressure of her day job.
“Working together in a team and working with different personalities for a common goal can be really helpful at times as a doctor,” explained Walker.
Tonight’s warm-up match will be the only game for the women before their Indian fixture but coach Gordon Shepherd has had a good chance to see what work needs to be done in the coming days.
Shepherd reviewed the game saying, “The girls played with reigns on today as we don’t want to give too much away to the Indians before Monday but I was happy with areas of the game and there are just a few things to tidy up on.”
Assessing their pool matches Australia, India, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago, he continued, “The target the players have set themselves before coming out here is to finish fifth. To do that we have to beat South Africa or India, along with Trinidad & Tobago but they are in great physical condition, have played great hockey all summer so we’re capable of achieving the target.”
Key milestones for some of the men’s team are still to come and they are all feeling confident after a 3-3 draw with New Zealand this morning. Goals from Stephen Dick, Gareth Hall and Mark Ralph put the kiwis under some pressure and the men now have three days of training before facing Pakistan on Tuesday.
Ralph will receive his 150th cap in the opening match while Dick will collect his 100th in their first cross-over game following the pool matches.
Both teams will be hoping to keep the list of achievements and accolades rolling in coming days with strong performances and results to upset the rankings
Acclaimed sports writer from The Herald, Doug Gillon, arrived in Delhi on Tuesday in advance of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. On his first day in the city and after a precarious bus journey or two, he caught up with Commonwealth Games Scotland Chairman Michael Cavanagh.
Among various topics, the pair chatted about how much sport has moved on since Cavanagh’s own elite sporting days, the sterling effort put in by Scotland’s General Team Management and the passing of the Commonwealth Games baton to Glasgow.
Speaking about his own experience as a wrestler at the 1982 Games in Brisbane, Cavanagh recalled university campus accommodation which didn’t even have shower facilities – athletes had to wash and shower in Portakabins outside the buildings.
However, sport has come a long way since then, with increasing numbers of athletes turning professional. Professional athletes expect certain standards and Cavanagh paid tribute to the work put in by Scotland’s General Team Management in order to raise the standards of accommodation to acceptable levels for the Team Scotland athletes and officials.
“Our team managers went beyond the call of duty. They’ve done a great job for us, but also for the rest of the Commonwealth. I’m pretty clear things would not be as good as they are now if our guys, and a few other teams, had not made such a big stand.”
He continued: “Our block is fine. The dining area is fantastic and the food is really wonderful. The international zone is great, really massive, though if you look closely, they have obviously rushed it.
“It’s not the standard of finish we’d have, but the apartments are extremely spacious. Transport? There are still some issues. They’re going to have to sort them out.”
As Gillon and Cavanagh discussed, the organisers of Glasgow 2014 will be determined not to let similar issues derail their successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games. With building work having already begun and 70% of the infrastructure already in place, Cavanagh is confident that Glasgow is on schedule to successfully host the Games.
“Four years from now, when we do this at home, I think we have already learned a lot from Delhi. For me, I think we have already shown we are much better planned. We just do things differently, but I’m very comfortable with where 2014 is in terms of planning. The big advantage is 70% of the infrastructure being in place already.”
As Gillon alludes to, in four years time the Organising Committee will put on an athlete-centred Games when the world’s focus turns to Glasgow 2014. However, for the next two and a half weeks, the focus will remain on the athletes representing Team Scotland in Delhi.
The Games are due to start on Monday 4 October.
A Team Scotland spokesperson said; “We can confirm that gymnast Emma White has sadly been forced to withdraw from the Games due to injury. Emma has ruptured her posterior cruciate ligament, which means that she will no longer be able to compete. It is hugely disappointing for both Emma and her team mates.”
Emma said: “I am better prepared than I have ever been so it is very disappointing to know that I won’t be able to compete next week. I know that my team mates have been through the same preparation so I really hope they do well.”
Team Scotland’s presence in the Athletes’ Village was given a further boost today as the Boxing, Rugby 7s and Wrestling teams touched down in Delhi.
The three sports were originally scheduled to leave Scotland last Thursday and would have been the first of the Scottish athletes to arrive in Delhi, but due to last week’s concern over the readiness of the Village, Commonwealth Games Scotland took the difficult decision to reschedule their travel plans.
However, at 1100 hours local time and after a 120 hour delay, the boxers, rugby players and wrestlers excitedly made their entrance to the Athletes’ Village.
24 year old freestyle wrestler Tracey Connell, from Falkirk said: “I’m really thrilled to finally be in Delhi after the delayed departure, and looking forward to getting started with training. We’ve explored some of the Athletes’ Village and so far everything looks great, and I’m especially excited about the on-site training venue. It has four mats, more than what we’re used to and on site scales and free drinks which we don’t get back home.”
The new arrivals were welcomed to the Village by Team Scotland Chef de Mission Jon Doig and members of the General Management Team. They were given a quick tour of the Village before dining at the catering facilities and checking out their accommodation for the first time.
Andrew Turnbull, top try scorer for the Scotland 7s squad, said on his arrival: “We didn’t come expecting five star accommodation. Our apartments are really nice and the food is good so we have no complaints.”
Super Heavyweight boxer Ross Henderson continued: “The whole Team is buzzing and it’s great here. The facilities are comfortable and well up to standard so the whole team is happy”.
The next Scottish athletes and officials to arrive in Delhi are the 27 members of Team Scotland’s Swimming squad, who will fly in from a holding camp in Doha tomorrow (Thursday).
During the Games Team Scotland will be running ‘Scotland House’ at the Le Meridien Hotel where friends, family and supporters can meet, mix and find out about information about the Team and generally about Scotland, Scottish business and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Scotland House will be managed by Commonwealth Games Scotland in partnership with the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government.
To showcase Scotland on the global stage, and it’s support for the Scottish Team in action in Delhi, the four partners have developed an eye catching look and feel for Scotland House.
With a Scottish and Indian infusion, the design concept, produced by the Leith Agency, has been unveiled in advance of the arrival of Team Scotland supporters for the opening of Scotland House on 1 October.
Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland commented: “The Scotland House facilities are bigger and better than ever before this year, as the four Glasgow 2014 Games partners work together in Delhi to promote both the athletes representing Scotland, and the fast approaching handover to Glasgow as the next host city.
I’m confident that Scotland House will be a popular gathering place that has a real buzz about it, serving athletes, family and friends, as well as public and commercial partners.