Vijender, Suranjoy get first round bye

World No.1 Vijender Singh and Asian champion Suranjoy Singh got a first round bye Monday in the draw of lots in the boxing event at the Commonwealth Games here, while defending gold medallist Akhil Kumar would begin his campaign against Qadir Khan of Pakistan later this week.

Only two pugilists, Commonwealth champion Amandeep Singh and former Asian bronze medallist Manoj Kumar would be seen in action in the first round here Tuesday.

Amandeep Singh will take on Peter Warui of Kenya in the light fly weight 49kg category while Manoj faces Daniel Lassayo of Sierra Leone in the light welterweight 64kg category in the afternoon session.

Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist Vijender (75kg) will face Kenyan Dick Ombaka here Friday. Vijender will attempt to become the third Indian boxer after Akhil (2006) and Mohammad Ali Qamar (2002) to win a gold at the Commonwealth Games. In the last Games in Melbourne, Vijender won the silver.

For Akhil, the challenge will be to retain his gold in the bantam weight (56kg) against Qadir Khan in the opening round. Even if Akhil gets through the first round, he will face 20-year-old English boxer Iain Weaver, who had defeated the Indian in the very opening round of the Commonwealth Championships in March.

Suranjoy Singh will face Manyo Plange of Ghana in the second round of the fly weight (52kg) category while Jai Bhagwan, who also got a bye in the first round, will face Colan Caleb of Nauru in the second round of the light weight (60kg) division, Wednesday.

Nine-time national champion Dilbagh Singh (69kg) will throw his punches at Viliami Latu of Tonga and in the light weight 81kg, Arjuna awardee Dinesh Kumar will face Obed Mwakongo of England.

Commonwealth Games brand ambassadors

Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi today named a group of six ace sportspersons as Brand Ambassadors for the Games to be held here from October 3 to 14.

Olympic and world 10m air rifle champion Abhinav Bindra, world no. 2 badminton player Saina Nehwal, the athlete of the 2006 Commonwealth Games Samaresh Jung, Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Kumar, Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar and four-time world boxing champion MC Mary Kom are the Brand Ambassadors for Delhi 2010.

“These champions have done India proud with their achievements and will serve as remarkable Brand Ambassadors for the Games,” said Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Chairman Mr, Suresh Kalmadi, MP. “Their passion, personality, and presence as well as their amazing pursuit of excellence truly reflect the vision of the Organising Committee.

“Their focus, mental strength and resilience make them role models, inspiring generations of Indians not just with their achievements but also with their work ethic, discipline and determination,” Mr. Kalmadi said. “It ties up with the ideals of the Organising Committee and I am sure these champions will inspire Indians to back the Commonwealth Games and take to Olympic sport.

“We are poised at the cusp of staging the biggest sporting celebrations ever in India and I am confident that this squad of six Brand Ambassadors will find universal appeal across the nation. I believe that they will lend their charisma to ensure that the Games are a huge draw with the people,” Mr. Kalmadi said.

About the Brand Ambassadors:

The 27-year-old Abhinav Bindra won top honours in the 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Shooting Championship in Zagreb in 2006 and the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. He has also won two gold, a silver and a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Melbourne.

Barely 20, Saina Nehwal has endeared herself to the hearts of millions of Indian sports fans with her consistent performances in the past two years. Beginning with a quarterfinal appearance at the Olympic Games, she has won three Super Series crowns in the past 12 months

The air pistol expert Samaresh Jung, 40, has won seven gold medals, three silver and a bronze in the last two editions of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Melbourne. His haul of five gold, a silver and a bronze in 2006 saw him being named for the David Dixon Award for the best athlete of the Games.

Besides his Olympic Games middleweight boxing bronze medal in Beijing, the 24-year-old Vijender Singh has won a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne as well as bronze medals in the Asian Games at Doha in 2006 and the World Amateur Boxing Championship at Milan in 2009.

Sushil Kumar, 27, won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in 2008 and is a two-time bronze medal winner at the Asian Wrestling Championships in 2003 and 2008. He also has three gold medals at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Besides winning the World Championship crowns in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008, Mary Kom, 27, has claimed the Asian Championship prize as many as three times. Having coming back to boxing as mother of twins, she is an inspiration across the country and widely respected as one of the finest women champions in India.

5th Commonwealth Boxing Championships start in Delhi

The Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) today inaugurated the 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championship 2010 at a gala opening ceremony held at the Talkatora Stadium.

The 5th Commonwealth Boxing Championship (CBC) was officially opened by the Union minister of youth affairs and sports, MS Gill.

The opening ceremony had bag pipers leading the posse as various participating teams paraded inside the stadium. Singer Mansi Scott gave a scintillating performance and enthralled the audience.

The 5th CBC will witness over 100 boxers from 14 countries in over 100 bouts from 12th -17th March, 2010 at Talkatora Stadium fighting for this prestigious title. Many major commonwealth boxing nations including India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, England, Wales, Scotland, New Zealand, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Botswana, and the Bahamas will participate. The boxers are segregated in 10 following weight categories namely 49 kgs, 52 kgs, 56 kgs, 60 kgs, 64 kgs, 69 kgs, 75kgs, 81 kgs, 91 kgs, + 91 kgs.

Indian boxing heroes such as Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar, Dinesh Kumar, Suranjay Singh etc will be contending for India in their respective weight categories and will be seen in action in front of the home crowd. And with our current boxing talents IBF expects to win more medals this year.

The Opening Ceremony as well as all the days of the CBC will have various entertainment elements to keep the audiences engaged and entertained. The CBC is open for general public viewing and tickets are nominally charged at Rs 100 per day.

Mr. Abhay Singh Chautala, president, Indian Boxing Federation said, “Commonwealth Boxing Championship is a very prestigious event to be held first time in our country. We are extremely confident that our new crop of boxers will shine in this championship by winning at least 4 out of 10 gold medals”

IBF secretary general, Col PK Muralidharan Raja said, "We as a federation promise to make this an event to remember and hope that the participating countries will cherish this experience."

Batonbearers excited ahead of Queen's Baton relay

The air was thick with anticipation as Batonbearers from India and Britain chosen to feature in the launch Queen's Baton Relay 2010 on Thursday gathered at the official hotel of the Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi on Wednesday.

Lord Sebastian Coe, a two-time Olympic Games champion and Chairman, London 2012 Organising Committee, enquired about Delhi's preparedness of the Commonwealth Games and embraced former India cricket captain Kapil Dev.

Kapil, who was captain of the Indian cricket team that won the World Cup in 1983, loved the opportunity to interact with champions from other sporting disciplines. "It is wonderful to meet people like Lord Coe as well as our own champions like Abhinav Bindra, Milkha Singh, Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar," he said.

He said he had no doubt that Delhi 2010 would be a memorable event and that the athletes from the Commonwealth nations and territories would enjoy their visit to compete in the biggest sporting extravaganza in Delhi.

Olympic Games and World championship bronze medalist boxer Vijender Singh was thrilled that he would play a role in the Queen's Relay at Buckingham Palace on his 24th birthday on Thursday. Freestyle wrestler Sushil Kumar, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, and India's first woman medalist at the Olympic Games, Karnam Malleswari, were excited too to be a part of the opening day ceremonies.

Commonwealth Games Federation President Mr. Michael Fennell will take the Baton from the plint and carry it to Her Majesty the Queen. She will place her message to the athletes in a jewellery box in the handcrafted Baton. Her message has been engraved onto a miniature 18-carat gold leaf that is symbolic of the ancient Indian palm leaf patras. The embossing has been made by using modern laser technology. The Baton has been created by Foley design along with Titan Industries and Bharat Electronics.

The Hon'ble President of India will pass on the Baton to the Minister for Sports, Dr. M S Gill who will then turn it over to Mr. Kalmadi, Chairman of the Organising Committee and President of the Indian Olympic Association. Mr. Suresh Kalmadi will then hand over the Baton to the first Batonbearer, Abhinav Bindra.

On October 30, Organising Committee Chairman Mr. Kalmadi will hand over the Baton to the Commonwealth Games Council of England Chairman Sir Andrew Foster in the presence of the Union Sports Minister Dr. MS Gill and the Rt. Hon. Mr. John Bercow, Hon'ble Speaker of the House of Commons and Mr. Tejendra Khanna, Lt. Governor, National Capital Territory of Delhi. The ceremony will be held at the Greens in New Palace Yard, Houses of Parliament.

After journeying for 170,000km over 240 days in different lands that are members of the Commonwealth, the Baton will arrive in India at the Wagah Border with Pakistan with just 100 days left for the start of the Games. It will then travel to all State Capitals, a number of other towns and villages, exhorting all of India to be a part of the celebrations. It will reach the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the Opening Ceremony on October 3, 2010 when the Queen or Her representative will read out the message to the athletes, marking the start of the Games.

India's Vijender ranked# 1 in the world

Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist Vijender Singh has achieved yet another first for Indian boxing by becoming the world's top-ranked pugilist in the middle weight (75kg) category.

The 23-year-old boxer, who won India's maiden World Championships medal in Milan earlier this month, has 2200 points and is ranked higher than the reigning champion Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan. Atoev, to whom Vijender lost in the World Championship semi-finals, is third in the list with 2100 points and Olympic silver medallist Emilio Correa Bayeux of Cuba occupies the second spot in the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) list updated after the Milan event.

IOC has expressed happiness at the latest development and has said that this is a great news right before 2010 Commonwealth Games. IOC spokesperson mentioned that Indian sports need more and more ambassadors, and Vijender's achievement speaks highly of India's long term sports development plan. IOC also highlighted that apart from Boxing other sports such as Badminton, Wrestling, Tennis and even F1 have seen consistent performance from India.

Among the other Indians, former world youth champion Thokchom Nanao Singh has slipped three places to eighth with 1400 points in the light fly weight (48kg) category.

Nanao, a silver medallist in this year's Asian Championships in China, lost in the second round of the World Championships.

Olympian Akhil Kumar, whose World Championships campaign was cut short in the first round itself due to a wrist injury, has gone down a rung to 10th in feather weight (57kg) category with 1050 points.

Fellow Olympian Jitender Kumar (54kg) also lost some ground because of his first-round exit in Milan as he dropped a place to 14th with 838 points.

Suranjoy Singh was 17th in the fly weight (51kg) category rankings. World Championship quarter-finalist Dinesh Kumar held on to his sixth spot with 1550 points in the light weight (81kg) category.