Nigeria gets first CWG Gold, India gets Silver & Bronze

Nigerian weightlifter Augustina Nwakolo scooped the first gold medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games on Monday, dashing hosts India's hopes of claiming it for themselves.

The 17-year-old jumped into the arms of her coach to celebrate her victory in the women's 48kg category, which she nailed with Games records in both the snatch and clean and jerk for a total of 175kg.

Local hopes rested on Soniya Chanu's shoulders but she failed to match the Nigerian and had to settle for silver with 167kg ahead of compatriot Sandhya Rani Devi, who managed a combined 165kg.

Chanu cleared 167 kg to stand second in the event behind Nigerian woman Augustina Nwaokolo who hoisted 175 kg to win the contest. She also created a new Games record. Sandya Rani took the bronze with a total clearance of 165 kg.

Chanu and Nwaokolo were tied with the same clearance of 94 kg in the snatch competition but the latter, who weighed marginally less than the Indian woman, settled the issue in the clean and jerk category by clearing 8 kgs more.

Canadian Weightlifting squad for Commonwealth Games

The Canadian Weightlifting Federation and Commonwealth Games Canada today announced the weightlifters that will represent Canada at the XIX Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, October 3rd to 14th.

The Canadian weightlifting team will be led by a trio of female powerhouses who were all silver medalists of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

The squad will count on the leadership of Christine Girard (63 kg), participating in her third Commonwealth Games, who finished 4th at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Another medal hopeful, Marilou Dozois-Prévost (48 kg) finished 10th at the Beijing Olympics and was also a silver medallist in Melbourne. Rounding out the trio is Emily Quarton (58 kg), a serious threat in her weight class.

Jasvir Singh (62 kg), born in Karna, India, is also a member of the Canadian team. In 2008, Singh became the first Indo-Canadian in history to represent Canada in weightlifting. Although Singh qualified for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he was not yet eligible due to citizenship issues. He became a Canadian citizen in time to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where he finished 12th in the 62 kg class.

Singh is now focused on winning a medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. "Right now, I am 100 per cent focused. I feel very fortunate," he says. "I feel extremely proud and happy. These Games will be one of the most memorable competitions of my life."

Mathieu Marineau (85 kg) earned a gold medal at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India. At the time, he declared that his experience in Pune was so fantastic that he wanted to come back to India for the Commonwealth Games. Paul Dumais (85 kg), a 2008 Youth Games gold medallist, is another an athlete to watch. Coach, Pierre Roy, was also a member of the team that travelled to Pune.

"I came away from the National Championships in May totally inspired by these remarkable athletes," said Team Canada Chef de Mission, Martha Deacon. "We've got a group here who've proven they can deliver podium performances and I'm excited to see what they're capable of in Delhi."

"Canada has been very fortunate to qualify a full team of eight men and seven women in weightlifting at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi," declared Paul Barrett, President of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation. "These athletes have worked hard to qualify for this prestigious event, and the expectation is that they will be very competitive in their respective categories. I wish the team every success, and remain confident that five gold medals is a distinct possibility."

The 2010 Canadian weightlifting team is in Turkey from September 17th to 26th to compete at the 2010 World Championships in Antalya. The upcoming London Olympics will be front and centre, as this event is a qualifier for the 2012 Games.

Women's team
Marilou Dozois-Prévost - 53 kilos
Annie Moniqui - 58 kilos
Emily Quarton - 58 kilos
Christine Girard - 69 kilos
Marie-Josée Arès-Pilon - 69 kilos
Katelynn Williams - 69 kilos
Marie-Ève Beauchemin-Nadeau - 75 kilos

Men's team
Jasvir Singh - 62 kilos
Dominic Lussier - 72 kilos
Paul Dumais - 85 kilos
Mathieu Marineau - 85 kilos
Buck Ramsay - 94 kilos
Nicolas Roberts - 94 kilos
George Kobaladze - 123 kilos
Parm Phangura - 137 kilos

Pakistan's Commonwealth Games weightlifting squad

Six weightlifters have been named to represent Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games to be held at New Delhi, India, next month. The selection committee of Pakistan Weightlifting Federation announced the squad after the trials held early this month at Pakistan Sports Complex here.

The Pakistan weightlifting team had won one gold medal and one bronze medal in the last Commonwealth Games held at Melbourne, Australia, in 2006.
“Hopefully, we will win medals in the upcoming event too,” a PWF official Yasir Ali told APP here on Wednesday.
He said that a training camp for the Commonwealth Games are underway at University Ground, Lahore, and the other camp is being held at Sherwala Park, Gujranwala.
The players selected are Abdullah Ghafoor (56 kgs), Muhammad Ishtiaq Ghafoor (62 kgs), Mati - Ur - Rehman (69 kgs), Khurram Shahzad (85 kgs), Shuja Ud Din Malik (94 kgs) and Sajjad Amin Malik (105 kgs). Coaches are Muhammad Ilyas Butt and Rashid Mahmood as Manger.

Indian weightlifting federation fined for $ 500,000

The Governing committee of the Commonwealth games has imposed a penalty of $500,000 on the Indian Weightlifting Federation for the doping fiasco, but fell short of banning it from international events. It would have been even bigger embarassement had India been slapped a ban from 2010 Commonwealth Games. The games are scheduled to be held in Delhi in Oct 2010. Many of the experts believed that India will be banned. However, the back channels may have worked to prevent the ban preventing India's shame in front of its home crowd.

The move has cleared the way for the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to participate in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games 2010. Six of its weightlifters were found positive in the dope tests carried out by WADA and NADA in September last year.

The International Weightlifting Federation has already banned Shailaja Pujari for life, imposed a fine of $5,500 on Vicky Butta and Harbhajan Singh. A fine of $5,000 has been imposed on four other lifters - Rajesh Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Sunita Rani (Punjab), A Vijayadevi (Jharkhand) and Shailaja Pujari.

India's shame: Weighlifting federation faces a ban

The International Weightlifting Federation will meet at the world championships venue in South Korea this week to determine a sanction for India. The positive tests for six weightlifters in out-of-competition tests in September could result in another international ban for the national federation.

Country faces up to a four-year ban if three or more lifters return positive for banned substances in a calendar year. Even if India is only banned from international competition for a year, it would rule them out of weightlifting events at the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

India's sports minister has demanded an explanation and a public apology from the weightlifting federation for another doping scandal that could result in the host nation not having any lifters competing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Sports Minister M.S. Gill said and had "brought shame to the country."

"The senior IWF officials owe an explanation to the country and express regret for the dope offense by the lifters," Gill said in a speech Monday, according to Press Trust of India. "They should take moral responsibility and do whatever to eliminate doping from weightlifting."

"If there is to be a ban so be it," Gill was quoted as saying. "The only thing is because of the lifters taking drugs, the country will have to suffer."

The Indian weightlifting team was barred from competing at the 2006 Asian Games after four competitors tested positive within a 12-month period.

Weightlifters cause a major embarrassment to India

The participation of Indian weightlifters in next year’s Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi is in jeopardy with the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) facing the prospect of a one-year ban after a third positive dope test result in two days. After Shailja Pujari and Vicky Batta were caught in the dope net on Monday, IWF secretary BR Gulati confirmed on Tuesday that another weightlifter, Priyadarshini, had flunked the test.

According to International Weightlifting Federation regulations, a national federation can be banned for a year if three of its lifters test positive for banned substances. If the Indian federation is banned, the host nation will not be represented by weightlifters at the New Delhi CWG to be held between October 3 and 14, 2010.

“Priyadarshini was tested in Pune on August 7 and 8 during trials and her sample was found positive. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) report says she was using a masking agent to save herself from getting caught for taking banned substances,” says Gulati.

Since Priyadarshini has been caught doping for the first time, a two-year ban is expected to be the penalty for the offence.

However, Shailja, who tested positive for an anabolic steroid in a NADA test, and Vicky, caught by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), face life bans since they have been guilty of doping earlier.

Although Gulati refuses to comment on the possibility of the Indian federation being banned, the penalty seems unavoidable. As an IWF official says: “There are three positive dope tests and the rules are clear.” In any case, the Indian federation will have to shell out $5,000 for each failed dope test.

It may be recalled that Indian weightlifters have a history of doping. The IWF has been banned twice previously, the last time being in 2006 when Shailja, B Pramilavalli, Edwin Raju and Tejinder Singh tested positive. The ban was lifted after six months with the IWF paying a fine of $50,000.