Queen's baton reaches Sri Lanka

The Queen’s Baton Relay for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Delhi from October 3-14, arrived in Sri Lanka from Maldives on Thursday.

The Baton touched down at the Bandaranaike International Airport, where representatives of the Indian High Commission and the senior officials of Sri Lankan Tourism Ministry were present.

After Colombo, the flame will travel through different places of the island country including adjoining Negombo, Wennappuwa, Kurunegala, Kegalle, Pinnawela and Rambukkana.

Hemasiri Fernando, president of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Sri Lanka, said the arrival of the QBR “in our community” is being celebrated with great enthusiasm and many athletes will participate during its stay in Sri Lanka.

“We look forward to see many local people join the festivities and turn out to cheer on Baton-bearers, including past and present athletes,” Fernando said.

The Baton is on its way to 190,000-kilometre journey, during, which it will pass through 71 countries and territories that make up the Commonwealth of Nations.

Sri Lanka is the 67th stop for the Baton and from here it will enter Bangladesh. The seeing off ceremony in Sri Lanka will be held at Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium here on June 19.

The Baton would enter India from Pakistan through Wagah border and then embark upon a 100-day national tour starting on June 25 before reaching its final destination Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 3.

2018 CWG: Gold Coast taking Lankan bid seriously

Premier Anna Bligh says she is taking seriously Sri Lanka's bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, as the nominated region is home to the nation's president.

The Nigerian city of Abuja failed to lodge its expected bid by the deadline of March 31, leaving the Gold Coast to compete against the obscure Sri Lankan region of Hambantota, the home town of president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Ms Bligh told reporters on Tuesday that while she knew very little about Hambantota, she regarded it as a very serious competitor.

"You don't put forward the president's home town without the national government being serious about having a go," she said.

Ms Bligh acknowledged that the Gold Coast was where she grew up.

"What I expect is that the Commonwealth Games Federation will be looking for the best possible games, and if you want the best possible games, then the Gold Coast is the best possible place," she said.

2018 CWG: Sri Lanka puts in surprise bid

Sri Lanka submitted its bid for 2018 Commonwealth Games surprising the strong competitor Gold Coast, Australia.

Sri Lanka and Australia are only 2 countries bidding for 2018 Commonwealth Games, as Nigeria failed to submit its official bid by 31-Mar.

Sri Lankan town of Hambantota and Gold Coast both have beautiful beaches but that is about the only thing the Gold Coast and its surprise Commonwealth Games competitor Hambantota have in common.

The southern Sri Lankan city unexpectedly entered the bidding to host the 2018 Games after the Nigerian city of Abuja, in the midst of a political crisis, failed to submit a formal nomination by Thursday morning's deadline.

It will now be up to the Commonwealth Games Federation to decide if the Games come to Australia's sixth-largest city or Hambantota, which was devastated by the 2004 tsunami.

A former Sri-Lankan cricketer and Griffith University academic believes human rights injustices will affect the developing country's Commonwealth Games bid.

Griffith Sports College manager Michael Jeh said Hambantota's bid would likely become a political minefield.

He questioned how the tsunami-devastated, poverty-stricken, war-torn region could justify spending billions on sporting infrastructure when residents were still living in squalid refugee camps and illegally entering Australia by boat.

"There will be international questions about human rights issues ... why boat people are coming to Australia and leaving Sri Lanka in their droves if the living conditions are not that bad.

"If I was living in that sort of hardship, you would think they would sort out the refugee situation before taking the luxurious step of hosting the Commonwealth Games."

Mr Jeh said it would be wildly ambitious for Hambantota to believe facilities could be constructed to host the event in eight years.

"The best analogy to use would be to compare the Coast to Yamba -- a sweet, little, beautiful, sleepy beach town.

"That's seven years to catch up to the Gold Coast and it's taken the Gold Coast 50 years to get where it is."

Mr Jeh said residents had little use for Olympic-sized stadiums and swimming pools and the facilities would likely become a white elephant.

But Brisbane-based Sri Lankan Association past president Hiran Cooray said Sri Lanka would get far greater benefit from hosting the Games than the Coast.

"Sri Lanka is a poor developing country, to get a chance for foreign exchanges to come to them ... it would be a boost," he said.

Oz missing from Commonwealth Boxing Championship

India is hosting Commonwealth Boxing Championship in Delhi in Mar 2010 in preparations for 2010 Commonwealth Games. The tournament was scheduled in 2009 but was postponed due to lack of venue readiness.

However, the games received a setback as Australia decided to pull out of the tournament.

The IBF is still awaiting confirmation from Canada while Australia has turned down the invitation citing previous commitments.

"Australia regretted not being able to participate due to prior commitments and didn't specify anything else. We are awaiting confirmation from Canada and hopefully it will come soon," Raja said.

"All the remaining top Commonwealth nations are coming. So, we expect a tough competition," he added.

The CW Boxing Championship would present a massive challenge for Indian pugilists as they brace up to square off against glovesmen from 13 nations despite Australia's pull-out.

Close to 120 boxers are expected to participate in the event at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium, which is still undergoing renovation for the Commonwealth Games in October

India, which won a gold, two silver and six bronze medals in the fifth edition, will host boxers from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Mauritius, kenya, Samoa and Singapore.

The event will be the first to feature boxers in the new weight categories announced last year. The AIBA reshuffled the divisions to abolish featherweight (57kg) and increase the bantam weight from 54kg to 56kg

2005 Commonwealth Championship and the 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar, also an Olympian, said India can look forward to best-ever results in the event this time

"The team has not yet been selected but I can tell you, the results are going to be excellent. All the boxers have trained very hard and we will get a good haul of medals," he said

The Indian team for the event would be selected on the basis of the boxers' performance in this month's Super Cup and the trials to be held a couple of weeks ahead of the Championships.

"The Super Cup would allow us to identify upcoming names and during the trials, those who do not participate in Super Cup will get their chance to prove their worth," Raja said.