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.

It was only 9am when Scotland’s men’s hockey team stepped onto the pitch at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium to face Canada, but the temperature was already a blistering 34 degrees.
The match was played over three 20-minute periods with Canada winning three goals to nil, but Scotland coach Russell Garcia was happy with the teams’ performance.

“It was a good preparation game for us, a good first test. We are training tomorrow then another game on Friday, against New Zealand”, said Garcia.

Scotland will compete in Pool A of the competition and face tough opposition in the form of Australia, Pakistan, India and Malaysia. New Zealand and Canada meet each other in Pool B along with England, South Africa and Trinidad &Tobago.

Australia are currently ranked number one in the world but the Scottish players are excited about the challenge. Mark Ralph is one of the senior team members who was part of the team who competed in Melbourne in 2006 and also the side that picked up an unexpected bronze medal at the 2009 World Cup Qualifiers.

He said, “It will be a joy to play against Australia and really test ourselves. They are the best side in the world at the moment so it will be a great experience. We are ranked bottom of the group so our focus is to compete in every game and have a good team performance. We’ll be aiming to raise the bar every time and we are treating today’s game as the first of all our matches ahead.”
Large hawks swooped over the pitch during each interval but kept well away during play as the ball zipped across the pitch and both sides tried to settle into the pitch and conditions. Scotland improved with each phase and held Canada to a scoreless final period.

Garcia continued, “By the time our first pool match begins, I imagine we’ll be more acclimatised and happy with what we’re trying to do. At this stage, everyone needs pitch time and making sure they’re fresh throughout. We’ve been preparing this for almost a year so it’s now just about fine tuning some things each day.”

The Asian opponents in Pool A have the advantage of playing regularly in the heat so to ensure Scotland are top form, the team’s medical staff are working hard to keep them cool. Iced towels are given out during substitution breaks, hand cooling boxes are used to help keep body temperature low and after the final whistle, ice vests are worn by the goal keeper and any other players who are at highest risk of overheating.

Another factor for the players to focus on is hygiene to limit the risk of infection. When players leave the field they use the provided hand sanitising gel, followed by the removal of their mouth guard into an individual dish with sterilised liquid instead of their regular habit of storing it inside their hockey sock. Rehydration is vital for optimum performance to be maintained across all four pool matches which begin on the fifth against Pakistan and end on the ninth against the hosts India.

In the afternoon, men’s team captain chris Nelson and GB internationalist, Graham Moodie, took time out to show off their skills at Delhi’s iconic India Gate.

The women’s team had their second training session today and are preparing for their first warm-up match against Malaysia on Friday evening at the main stadium.

The Scotland Rugby 7s squad took time out today to explore the Games Village after arriving in Delhi yesterday morning.

Following a light weights session at the gym this morning, the squad toured round the international zone taking time to pose for photographers before heading to a pool session at the village leisure complex.

Scott Newlands and Hefin O’Hare, both experienced IRB series players, are adjusting well and already settling into their daily routine which includes much more than just their physical training sessions.

O’Hare said, “We’ve all been on the IRB Sevens World Series and this is how it’s run for us, so we’re just slipping back into our usual competition routine.”

Newlands explained the typical daily schedule for the boys. “When we wake up we take our heart rate, then we do an activity together to get our appetite up and get the day started. Today we did some boxing to music for ten minutes which was a fun.

“If we’re doing weights like today, we will do our own specific programmes related to sevens, and the rest of the day involves a mixture of meetings, some more training, perhaps some media activity and we also have to fit in our physio appointments and compulsory rest.”

Both first timers at the Commonwealth Games, the multi-sporting environment in Delhi is a different experience for them but it is one they are relishing.

“We are normally just around rugby guys when we compete and now there are an awful lot more athletes around. Everyone’s trying to work out who is from the various sports and we’re meeting lots of new people. It’s a massive honour to be part of this event and we can’t wait until the Games start,” Newlands concluded.

The routine continues now for the next ten days, with a few warm-up matches planned against non-pool opponents, before the two day competition commences on 11 October at Delhi University. The Scots have a tough pool, including reigning Commonwealth gold medallists New Zealand, but they are aiming high and hoping to continue their fine form from the IRB series where they reached the semi-final of their home event in Edinburgh last May.

For athletes, injury is an occupational hazard. No matter how well an athlete prepares and regardless of the effectiveness of their warm down routines, the rigours of putting their body through constant stresses and strain in both training and competition will eventually take its toll.

For the majority of people this is an inconvenience, keeping them out of sporting action for a few days or weeks. For a professional athlete, however, injury is not just an inconvenience, injury can derail or even end a career. For professional athletes a quick and effective recovery is critical – professional athletes want to get back in the game.

Enter “Game Ready” technology.

For years, the PRICE (Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) procedure has been an established course of treatment for soft tissue injury but now many medical and sporting professionals are encouraging professional athletes to use Game Ready as part of this regimen.

One such professional is physiotherapist Sandi Lyall, part of the medical team currently supporting Team Scotland’s athletes in Delhi at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Lyall explained:

“The Game Ready product is a device we use to treat athletes who have acute soft tissue injuries and ongoing injuries which have an inflammatory component.

“It doesn’t replace PRICE but it enhances it because it means we are able to apply ice and compression together in a much more effective way.”

Game Ready uses spacesuit technology developed by NASA to simultaneously deliver intermittent compression and adjustable cold therapy. Explaining how the system works, Lyall said:

“There is a central unit that delivers the cold and compression by connecting to various wraps which are specific to different body parts, so we have wraps for right arm, left foot etc. That means you get a precise fit which helps make it a very effective device.”

It is the first time such a device has been used by Team Scotland and Lyall continued:

“It’s the first time we have used the product at a Commonwealth Games and Game Ready have been very generous in loaning us the unit and the sleeves to use in Delhi. The unit we have here has just come back from the football World Cup where the English football team were using it.

“It’s a new concept for us but it has been used extensively in the States, in the English Football Premiership and by other high performance sports bodies and the British Lions took the Game Ready machine on Tour with them to South Africa last year.”

Asked which of Team Scotland’s sports have benefitted from the Game Ready device, Lyall said:

“The sports we have used Game Ready for are hockey, rugby, boxing, a lot of the contact sports. One of our shooters is also using it at the moment for a shoulder problem and is feeling a great benefit.

“The feedback we have had from the athletes is that they like the product because it’s easy to use and it’s comfortable and they have seen the benefits of it.

“It’s a very safe unit and it is very simplistic in its approach so that it would be possible for athletes to take them home for use by themselves for ongoing treatment which is important, especially in the first 72 hours after sustaining injury.”

Similar technology is also on its way to Afghanistan to aid the troops in combat in the region. Lyall explained:

“Team Scotland also have another very similar unit which has been donated to us by Zamar so it gives us the opportunity to try them both.

“The difference between the Game Ready unit compared to the Zamar unit is that the Zamar device doesn’t need ice. It uses glycol to provide the cold instead. Because of this the Zamar unit will be going out to Afghanistan to use with the troops in the field hospitals.”

Lyall is part of a medical team consisting of six doctors and 10 physiotherapists, brought together to provide support to Team Scotland athletes in Delhi. It is the biggest medical team Scotland have ever had at a Commonwealth Games and with Game Ready and Zamar on board, the team are in prime position to keep the athletes off the injury table and in the sporting arena.

Team Scotland continues to ramp up the preparations for the Games as the individual sports settle into their training schedules in Delhi.

Scotland’s three weightlifters worked up a sweat in the training venue at the Athletes’ Village today as they get ready for their competition which begins next week.
Graeme Kane, Peter Kirkbride and Tommy Yule are competing in the 77kg, 94kg and 105kg categories respectively and all three are setting their sights on a medal in Delhi.
Yule is the reigning British Champion, Scottish Champion and picked up bronzes medal in both of the last two Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and Manchester. He said: “I am aiming to win a medal, that’s why I am here. If I can do what I’ve been doing in training and perform then it is realistic.
“In terms of what colour or medal, that’s impossible to say – I can’t predict what others are going to do on the day but I am going to do my best and hopefully I’ll be in amongst them for a medal.”
All competitors in weightlifting must take part in both the ‘snatch’ and ‘clean and jerk’ disciplines with medals being awarded from a combined score.
Kane, who is the current U23 Total Record holder and competed at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, is aware of the many important elements in weightlifting that can affect performance.
“We need to make sure that our body weight doesn’t drop too far because we need as much strength as possible. We’ll normally train two or three kilograms above our own body weight. We also have to watch our fluid intake the night before but other than that, I trust my coach completely so I don’t question anything he asks me to do and it always pays off in the end”, he explained.
Two hours of training today at the on-site facility in and coach Charles Hamilton is happy with the progress being made. Hamilton said, “This is our second session, yesterday was just a light, break-in session. Peter and Graeme are young and can do a bit more training than Tommy, but I am sure his experience will rub off on the guys and hopefully we’ll produce the best results so far.
“Preparations before we came out were great, Peter did personal bests the week before we flew out and Graeme has come back from injury. Tommy has a few niggles but he’ll pull it out on the day.”
The team are operating a routine of two days training then one rest day in the days leading up to competition.
Meanwhile, both the men’s and women’s hockey teams had their first training sessions today at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The men will face Canada tomorrow morning in a practice match while the women continue their training before they tackle Malaysia on Friday night.
The gymnasts also sprung into training today at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, the venue where the gymnastics competition will be hosted at Games time. Seeing the field of play for the first time, Artistic Gymnast Jordon Lipton commented: “I’m so excited! This is absolutely amazing and it makes it all seem so real. This will be by far the biggest venue I’ve ever competed in and I just can’t wait to get up on the podium and look out to the crowd.”

Elena Baltacha has withdrawn from the Commonwealth Games Tennis competition in Delhi, which is due to start on Monday 4 October at the R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium.

Baltacha suffers from a chronic liver condition (primary sclerosing cholangitis)which is linked to her immune system and she believes the level of health risk for her personally is too great. She has therefore taken the difficult decision to withdraw.
Bally said: “After a lot of thought and discussion, I have taken the heartbreaking decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games.
“I am incredibly disappointed because I was really excited about playing for Scotland but conditions in Delhi, particularly in relation to Dengue fever, are such that going there would pose too high a risk to my health.
“I suffer from a liver condition which is linked to my immune system and makes me susceptible to picking up infections. At the age of 27 and after many years of hard work, I am now playing the best tennis of my career and I cannot afford to jeopardize that by getting ill.
“I will be cheering on Team Scotland with all my heart, in particular my fellow tennis players Mhairi, Joss, Colin and Jamie. I am very, very sad that I won’t get to play alongside them.”
On hearing the news, Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission, said: “Bally has been a huge supporter of Commonwealth Games ever since her medal winning experience in the inaugural Commonwealth Youth Games in Edinburgh. She committed to representing Scotland in Delhi from the outset and I know she is absolutely gutted about having to make this decision.
“Whilst we are obviously disappointed that Elena has decided to withdraw from the Games, we fully respect her decision. We understand that this is a very particular set of personal circumstances and this should not give cause for concern for other athletes, who we look forward to welcoming in Delhi over the next few days.
“We wish Elena all the very best with her career and look forward to seeing her continue to progress up the world rankings.”

Following the excitement of yesterday’s arrival in Delhi, today was all about getting down to more serious business and Team Scotland’s Archers, Lawn Bowlers and Shooters set off early this morning to their respective training venues.

After a week of uncertainty the Archery Team couldn’t be more excited to be in Delhi and shot straight into training.

The ten archers, a mixture of compound and recurve disciplines, will enter the competition on the first day of the sports programme on Monday 4 October in the Qualification Round at the Yamuna Sports Centre, which is also the training venue.

Recurve archer Simon Needlam, who previously competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney as well as European and World Championships for Great Britain commented: “It’s amazing to be here in Delhi and getting ready to compete, and the fact that this is the first time in almost 30 years archery has featured in a Commonwealth Games sports programme makes it all the more special. Today was all about getting acclimatised and used to shooting in a new environment and going to the Yamuna Centre made it seem all the more real.”

Team Leader Bob Provan added: “The team were still all a bit tired from the journey but really up for their first training session. We’ve planned the training schedule to mirror the competition programme so the athletes get used to the elements at that particular time of day, with recurve happening in the morning and compound in the afternoon. I’m confident that in getting the archers used to the venue and environment, we will have the best chance of success.”

The Lawn Bowls teams were in action too, taking their first steps onto the greens at the Jawaharal Nehru Sports Complex and they were delighted with what they found.

Women’s coach Robbie Dobbins worked with all bowlers on drawing and driving skills as adjusting to a synthetic surface instead of the usual grass, will be one of the challenges they face in the coming week before competition commences on the 4October.

Men’s Team Leader George Sneddon was happy with their first session saying, “Today was really a break-in session for everyone just to acclimatise with the weather but also the surface. We’ve had a good two hour session today and it all went very smoothly from the journey from the village and the facilities we found on arrival.”

David Peacock, part of the reigning world champion triples team agreed saying: “The venue is very impressive and it’s all looking in great shape. We’ve had a good first practice today and we’re enjoying everything so far.”

Sneddon stressed it is important for the athlete’s not to over train but that everyone gets the feel of things in Delhi.

He explained, “We’ve travelled and played all over the world so we are comfortable and feeling good ahead of the Games. This week we’ll put in some good practice sessions but first we’re going to enjoy some free time tonight with a good tour around the Games Village.

“There are a few of the team who haven’t played on the surface before so the next few days will be important for them to settle in and gain confidence to go for the required shots when the competition begins.”

The draw has yet to be made as the organisers wait for the final few teams to confirm participation. Once this is done, George and his counterpart for the women’s team, Betty Forsyth, will arrange matches with teams who are not in their pool for more competitive training and practice.

When the bowlers returned from training they arrived back in the Athletes’ Village to find they had been joined by more of their fellow competitors as a further 61 athletes and officials from Scotland’s Gymnastics, Hockey and Tennis Teams were welcomed to Delhi this afternoon.

Tennis player Mhairi Brown, who won a team silver medal at the inaugural Commonwealth Youth Games in Edinburgh in 2000, said: “We’ve had a look round the village and everything looks really good. Everyone in India has been very welcoming and friendly and very willing to help.”

And finally, there was a fine sight for Scottish eyes today, with the Saltire now flying proudly over the Athletes’ Village in Delhi! The Scottish flag was raised as Team Scotland was officially welcomed to the Games by the Delhi Organising Committee.

On behalf of Team Scotland Chef de Mission Jon Doig thanked the people of India for welcoming the athletes to Delhi, going on to say: “I’m very proud of our team who are here today for the work they have put in over the last four years.

“We look forward to the competition and we look forward to the great comradeship with all our other friends from around the Commonwealth and we look forward to a successful Games.”

After the welcoming ceremony weightlifter Tommy Yule, a bronze medallist in Melbourne in 2006 said: “It was great to experience the welcome ceremony, to hear Flower of Scotland played and to see them raise the flag. It was a proud moment and it makes it more real. This is it, the Games are here!”

The Games are due to start on Monday 4 October and will continue until Thursday 14 October.

Scotland to face hosts India in mixed team badminton event

Scotland have been handed a tough test in the mixed team badminton event at the XIX Commonwealth Games following the conclusion of the draw in Delhi on Thursday.

The draw, which took place at the residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, pitted eighth seeded Scotland against hosts and second seeds India as well as Wales, Barbados and Kenya in Group D of the competition, with the potential for a clash with the Auld Enemy England in the quarter-finals.

India has some world class players including women’s singles world number three Saina Nehwal and they will prove a stern test for the Scots, who have already faced India twice in team competitions in the last three years. Both those meetings came in the Sudirman Cup World Team Championships with India winning 5-0 last year in Guangzhou and 4-1 three years ago when the Championships were held in Glasgow.

In both matches Nehwal beat double Commonwealth bronze medallist Susan Egelstaff in close three game matches and if Scotland is to have any chance of winning the group in Delhi they will have to rely on Egelstaff overcoming Nehwal.

Egelstaff and the rest of the Scottish badminton team will arrive in Delhi on Friday 1 October and will have the weekend to acclimatise and prepare for an intensive three days of group matches which will determine who progresses to the quarter-final stage.

“This will be my third Commonwealth Games,” said Egelstaff, who is the world No 31 and will celebrate her 28th birthday during the Games. “I won a team bronze in Manchester in 2002 and the individual bronze in Melbourne four years ago so I am looking forward to trying to add to that.”

The Scots start their campaign against Barbados on Monday 4 October at 2pm and face a tricky tie against Wales, who are in the neighbouring tower block in the Athletes’ Village, the following day in the evening match which starts at 7pm.

On the final day of the group matches Scotland face a challenging schedule as they take on Kenya in the morning match at 9am, then India at 1900hrs in a tie which could potentially decide which of the seeded teams will finish top of the group.

If Scotland qualify from their group they will face either the winners or runners-up of Group C, which means a potential clash with England in the quarter-final. The last time Scotland competed in the team event was in Manchester 2002 where they went out to England at the semi-final stage but still went on to win a team bronze medal.

“The match with Wales could be close but we are definitely aiming to at least finish second,” said Egelstaff.

“I’m certainly looking forward to playing England again. We played them in the European Team Championships in Liverpool in 2009 and I won my match. We lost 4-1 but the other matches were fairly close. Of course, England would be big favourites but you never know what could happen. There’s always a bit of an edge when you play England.”

Top seeds and hot favourites Malaysia have been drawn in Group A along with Australia, Nigeria, Seychelles Islands and Isle of Man while in Group B joint 3/4 seeds Singapore will face New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Jamaica and Northern Ireland. Fellow joint 3/4 seeds England have been drawn with Canada, Mauritius, Uganda and Falklands Islands in Group C.

Each match in the group stages will consist of five ties – men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the quarter-finals on 7 October. The semi-finals will also be played on 7 October with the bronze and gold medal matches on October 8.

The mixed team event will be followed by the individual events from 9-14 October where Egelstaff will be out to at least match her bronze from four years ago when she beat Jersey’s Elizabeth Cann in the play-off.

Scotland’s full squad is:

Men
Watson Briggs
Kieran Merrilees
Paul van Rietvelde

Women
Imogen Bankier
Jillie Cooper
Susan Egelstaff
Kirsty Gilmour
Emma Mason

Team Leader: Julie Hogg
Head Coach: Yvette Yun Luo
Coach: John Quinn

Team Scotland’s participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games took another major step closer today (Sunday 26 October) as the first Scottish athletes arrived in Delhi.

Following concerns earlier in the week over the readiness of the Athletes’ Village, which led to a cancellation of the first Team Scotland flight on Thursday 23 September, Saturday saw the sports of Archery, Lawn Bowls, Shooting and Weightlifting finally set off for Delhi amid a scrum of media activity and goodwill messages. Emirates flight EK510 touched down today with Team Scotland arriving in Delhi in good spirits and looking forward to representing Scotland at the Games.

They were greeted by members of the General Management Team for Scotland, who have been in Delhi since 15 September preparing for the athletes’ arrival, as well as members of the Delhi 2010 Organising Committee.

The athletes were whisked through the accreditation process quickly and smoothly to find their luggage waiting for them and transport on hand to transfer them to their accommodation in the Village and after a short 40 minute, traffic-jam free journey, they had the chance to see for themselves the huge progress which had been made.

Team Scotland Chef de Mission Jon Doig was the first to welcome them to their new home for the next three weeks and said: “We are all delighted to be able to welcome the first of Team Scotland’s athletes to Delhi today. Our General Management Team have been working hard to ensure facilities are in a suitable condition for the athletes, and now that the Team has started to arrive it feels like our hard work is really paying off.”

Among the competitors to be greeted was Lawn Bowler Margaret Letham, Pairs gold medallist from Kuala Lumpur 1998: “The trip was fine, the flight with Emirates was very comfortable and everything went well.

“We haven’t seen the whole of the village yet. We were welcomed by our Management Team then went for lunch but the parts we’ve seen so far, accommodation, general gymnasium and catering facilities, have been a pleasant surprise and we are going to explore the rest of the village later today.

“The squad is glad to have finally arrived and we are now just going to concentrate on putting in some serious training and focussing on our competition.”

Shooter Ian Marsden, the flag bearer at the 2006 Melbourne Games and multiple Commonwealth, Games medallist echoed her sentiments.

“The accommodation is comfortable and spacious and security seems excellent so the whole Shooting Team is happy.

“We had a good flight and I think we have everything we need to be able to focus on competing for Scotland in the Games.”

Fellow shooter Jonathan Hammond added “The Village has been a pleasant surprise. We were concerned about it but the Management Team has really taken care of things and everything seems comfortable and welcoming.

“I think we have everything we need to be able to get down to some training and focus on our events.”

The next Team Scotland athletes to arrive will be from Gymnastics, Hockey and Tennis and will land in Delhi tomorrow (Monday 27 September).