Rwanda announces Common Wealth Games squad

Rwanda's Olympic Committee (RNOC) has named a 22 member team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

The team, which is taking part in the Games for the very first time, consists of 15 track and field athletes, five cyclists, one swimmer and one boxer.

Athletes hoping to make Rwanda's presence felt on the track include Dieudonne Disi, Rashid Safari, Gervais Nizeyimana and two-time Olympian Epiphanie Nyirabarame in full marathon (42.125km), Gervais Hakizimana in steeple-chase (3000m) and the trio of Jean Baptista Simuceka, Eric Sebahire and Sylvain Rukundo in 5000m and 10,000m races. Jean Claude Ndayisenga and Herman Muvunyi will compete in T46 races.

South Africa-based rider Adrien Niyonshuti will lead Rwanda's surge for honours. Others in the cycling team include four-time Tour of Rwanda champion Abraham Ruhumuriza, Nathan Byukusenge, Nicodem Habiyambere and Hategeka Gasore.

The cyclists will compete in the 167km road race and 40km individual time-trial race among others. Matusi Haziza, who is fresh from last month's Singapore Youth Games, will fly Rwanda's flag in boxing while Alphonsine Agahozo hopes to do Rwanda proud when she competes in the 50m freestyle.

According to RNOC's Executive Director Thierry Ntwali, the team entered residential training yesterday at Hill Top hotel.

The Games will run from October 3-14.

Commonwealth Games team:

Cycling: Nathan Byukusenge, Nicodem Habiyambere, Hategeka Gasore, Abraham Ruhumuriza and Adrien Niyonshuti

Para-sport: Jean Claude Ndayisenga (100m) and Herman Muvunyi (100m).

Athletics: Dieudonne Disi (Marathon), Gervais Hakizimana (3000m steeplechase), Saidi Hamisi Ndayisaba (100m & 200m), Sylvain Rukundo (5000m & 10000m), Eric Sebahire (5000m & 10000m), Jean Baptista Simuceka (5000m & 10000m), Gervais Nizeyimana (Marathon), Joseph Nzirorera (1500m), Rashid Safari (Marathon), Epiphanie Nyirabarame (Marathon), Claudette Mukasakindi (10000m), Jacqueline Murekatete (5000m) and Jean d'Arc Mukakigeri (5000m)

Swimming : Alphonsine Agahozo (50m Freestyle)

Boxing : Matusi Haziza (light weight)

Coaches : Jonathan Boyer, Emmanuel Murenzi, Innocent Rwabuhihi, Charles Tuyisenge and Gashugi Kananura.

Medics: Bulanga Umulisa Assumpta, Jean Damascene Gasherubuka and Emmanuel Nsengiyumva.

Australia announce Rugby 7s for Commonwealth Games

The Australian Sevens team to take part in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi has been named after a selection camp held in Canberra.

This will be the fourth time Rugby 7s has featured at the Commonwealth Games. Australia have been drawn along side arch rivals England, Namibia and Sri Lanka in Pool D for the 2 day tournament which takes place on October 11 and 12.

The squad have been put through their paces under the eye of coach Michael O’Connor, who had a selection headache in naming a final squad of 12 players. The squad has been hit with a raft of selection drama’s with no less than 9 players unavailable through injury and an unfortunate situation for new Waratahs back Brackin Karauria-Henry, who has been forced to withdraw due to eligibility issues despite already playing for Australia on the IRB circuit this year.

Key players including Henry Vanderglas, Ed Quirk, Jacob Taylor, Clint Sills and even back up Ed Stubbs have all been ruled out with injury leaving O’Connor to call in extra players including Nick Cummins, Lachie Turner and Pat McCabe, who was only called up to the camp last week after only 8 fit players were available for selection.

The squad will now head to Darwin for 10 days to prepare for India by competing in a Sevens tournament. It is fair to say the conditions in Darwin will be more beneficial after atrocious conditions in Canberra last week.

2010 Australian Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens team:
Liam Gill (18, QLD)
Kimami Sitauti (19, QLD)
James Stannard (27, ACT)
Pat McCabe (22, NSW)
Bernard Foley (20, NSW)
Luke Morahan (20, QLD)
Nick Phipps (21, NSW)
Robbie Coleman (20, NSW)
Pat McCutcheon (23, NSW)
Nick Cummins (22, WA)
Brian Sefanaia (24, NSW)
Lachie Turner (23, NSW)

Pakistan's Commonwealth Games boxing squad

The Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) named six boxers in as many weight categories to compete in New Delhi in October.

Haroon Shahid, younger brother of British boxing champion Aamir Khan, is part of the six-member Pakistani squad, announced for this year's Commonwealth Games.

The squad includes Mohammad Waseem (49kg), Haroon Shahid (52kg), Qadir Khan (56kg), Adnan Hussain (60kg), Nisar Khan (75kg) and Mir Waiz Khan (91+kg).

Two boxers, Naimat Ullah (56kg) and Arshad Hussain (60kg) are in the reserve list.

Cuba's Francisco Hernandez Roldan will be the chief coach and Ali Bukhsh will be his deputy for the Games.

The PBF is the first sports federation to announce its squad for the Games as preparations for meet have been hit by lack of funds and selection problems.

The second phase of training started on Sunday in different cities after the Pakistan Sports Board and Pakistan Olympic Association reached an agreement under which it has been decided not to send the football team for the Games.

"We have good hopes from our young and talented boxers that they will perform well for uplifting of game's image in the country," Muhammad Akram Khan, PBF Secretary General said.

Ghana's boxing team for Commonwealth Games

The Ghana Amateur Boxing Federation (GABF) has selected 22 boxers to form the nucleus of the Amateur Boxing Team 'The Black Bombers'.

The boxers are to start preparations ahead of the Commonwealth Games 2010 and other major international assignments at the Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra.

The selection was done by the GABF Technical Committee after three days of round-robin competition dubbed "National Amateur Boxing Justify -Your - Inclusion" under the sponsorship Geodril Mining Company.

The boxers are Duke Micah (49Kg), Musah Ramah Lawson, Emmanuel Quartey, Manyo Plange (52Kg), Octopus Djanie, Jessie Lartey, Isaac Sackey, (56Kg), Benjamin Lamptey, Joseph Martey, Michael Addo, Rapheal A. Mensah (60Kg), Frederick Lawson (64Kg), Azumah Mohammed (69Kg), Habib Ahmed

(75Kg), Ahmed Saraku (81Kg), Awusone Yekeni, Maxwell Amponsah (91Kg), Sulamanu Tetteh (49Kg), Jibril Mohammed, Latif Sadick (75Kg) and Emmanuel Adjei (81kg).

Kwame Amponfi Jr, the General Secretary of the GABF, said 10 out the 22 boxers would be selected from the 10 weight categories for a proposed training tour ahead of the games in October.

He said the team had begun non-residential training at the D.G Hathiramani Sports Hall of the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium, in Osu, Accra.

Pak squad not to include athletes and swimmers

There won’t be any athletes and swimmers from Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi in October. Though there are reports that Pakistan had submitted a list of participants for the Games before the June 30 deadline, it is learnt that the government has decided not to include athletes and swimmers, as they are not medal prospects.

Pakistani newspaper reports said the athletes and swimmers have also been pulled out of the Asian Games in China in November.

The decision not to send entries in athletics and swimming was taken by the Federal Ministry of Sports, which is the ultimate authority in Pakistan to decided foreign tours for sportspersons. The national federations had picked three athletes and four swimmers for the CWG but the ministry ruled otherwise.

“Participation in international events depends on the National Olympic Committee and the government, which provides the funds. The federation can only suggest names for the event,” said Khalid Mahmood, secretary, Amateur Athletics Association of Pakistan.

Though there are reports that the government is firm on its resolve because of limited funds for this year’s two mega events, Mahmood said he was confident the government would relent. “I am still confident that the Pakistani athletes will participate in the CWG,” he said.

However, the athletes seemed resigned to their faith. “After returning from the South Asian Games early this year, we did not go home but went straight to the camps. But after having spent three-and-a-half months in camps, suddenly we were informed that the authorities don’t want to send athletes to these games and so we had no option but to go home,” the country’s leading discus thrower, Basharat Ali, who won gold in the South Asian Games, was quoted as saying by The News.

Isle of Man's squad for Commonwealth Games

The Isle of Man will send its largest ever Commonwealth Games squad to Delhi in October. A team of 31 competitors and 14 officials have been named by the Commonwealth Games Association of the Isle of Man.

A Manx squad of archers is included for the first time alongside badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, shooting and swimming. General team manager Trevor Taubman says that’s testament to the talent on the Island.

The team is as follows:-

Archery - Adrian Bruce, Aalin George, Sarah Rigby

Badminton - Cristen Callow, Kim Clague, Josh Green, Matt Wilkinson

Boxing - Krystian Borucki, Dominic Winrow

Cycling - Jonny Bellis, Mark Cavendish, Mark Christian, Graeme Hatcher, Peter Kennaugh, Tim Kennaugh, Andrew Roche, Chris Whorrall

Gymnastics - Alex Hedges, Mukunda Measuria, Joe Smith

Shooting - Clementine Kermode Clague, Harry Creevy, Jake Keeling, Gemma Kermode, Tim Kneale, Dave Moore, Neil Parsons, Dan Shacklock, Lara Ward, Steven Watterson

Swimming - Grant Halsall

Guernsey names squad for Commonwealth Games

The Guernsey Commonwealth Games Association has announced its team to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October this year. A total of 45 atheletes will represent Guernsey during Delhi Commonwealth Games to be held in October this year.

The squad is as follows:

ATHLETICS: Dale Garland, Lee Merrien, Tom Druce, Matthew Bailey, Hywel Robinson, Nathan Stevens. Kylie Robilliard, Helen Hadjam.

BADMINTON: Elena Johnson, Gayle Lloyd.

BOWLS: Alison Merrien, Gwen De La Mare, Lucy Beere, Matthew Le Ber, Donald Batiste, Ian Merrien, Garry Collins, Daniel De La Mare, Gary Pitschou.

CYCLING: Tobyn Horton, James McLaughlin, Joshua Gosselin, Ann Bowditch.

SHOOTING FULL BORE: Peter Jory, Adam Jory.

SQUASH: Chris Simpson, Henry Birch, Zephanie Curgenven, Natalie Dodd, Issey Norman-Ross.

SWIMMING: Ian Powell, Tom Hollingsworth, Alexander Beaton, Ben Lowndes, Jeremy Osborne, Ian Hubert.

TABLE TENNIS: Garry Dodd, Oliver Langlois, Matthew Stubbington, Alice Loveridge, Dawn Morgan, Kay Chivers.

TENNIS: Heather Watson, Patrick Ogier, Dominic McLuskey.

New Zealand's CWG swimming squad

The New Zealand Commonwealth Games team for New Delhi in October began taking shape today with the naming of a 12-member strong swim squad.

(Read: New Zealand's badminton team for Commonwealth Games)

The announcement followed the week-long national swimming championships in Auckland.

With those up for selection needing to demonstrate a capability of a top-six finish in New Delhi, Swimming New Zealand said its selectors successfully put a case to the New Zealand Olympic Committee to extend the squad's from an original figure of seven.

The change was based on a re-evaluation of recent times worldwide.

Swimming NZ performance and pathways general manager Jan Cameron said the initial qualification targets agreed with the NZOC were set against world times 12 months ago.

Since then, times around the world, particularly at the Australian trials last month, had eased back after the introduction of new regulations relating to bodysuits.

"The initial Swimming New Zealand qualification times agreed with the NZOC were set against the world times 12 months ago," Cameron said.

"Times around the world and particularly in the recent Australian Trials have eased back from those targets that we had to set under the swimming environment 12 months ago with the new Fina (International Swimming Federation) suit regulations.

"We have applied exactly the same criteria of top six ranking in the Commonwealth based on these latest results and information.

"We have adjusted the criteria to 890 Fina points and under this weighting it means there are an additional five swimmers under the qualifying ranking for the Commonwealth Games.

"The NZOC selectors were satisfied that all the swimmers meet the top six selection criteria."

(Read: New Zealand's badminton team for Commonwealth Games)

The New Zealand Commonwealth Games team is expected to total about 185 competitors in 18 sports.

The New Zealand swimming squad:

Daniel Bell (North Shore) 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke;

Lauren Boyle (North Shore) 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay

Moss Burmester (North Shore) 200m butterfly

Melissa Ingram (North Shore) 200m backstroke

Hayley Palmer (North Shore) 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay

Glenn Snyders (North Shore) 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke

Natalie Wiegersma (Waverley, Southland) 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley

Tash Hind (Capital) 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m freestyle relay

Penelope Marshall (North Shore) 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m freestyle relay

Amaka Gessler (Aqua Gym) 4x200m freestyle relay, 4x100m freestyle relay

Emily Thomas (North Shore) 100m backstroke

CWG: Australia names 48 members for swimming events

AUSTRALIA have named a 48-strong squad for October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi. There will be 25 male participants and 23 female participants in various swimming events. Queensland will have maximum representation in the squad with as many as 25 members from the state.

(Click here to see list of Australian athletes selected for Commonwealth Games)

Australian squad will be led by Triple Olympic Gold medallist Stephanie Rice. The squad is a mix of old and new with as many as 27 new faces.

The list of swimmers is as follows:

Commonwealth Games squad Male (25): Daniel Arnamnart (NSW), Leith Brodie (QLD), Craig Calder (NSW), Ashley Callus (QLD), Nicholas D'Arcy (QLD), Ashley Delaney (VIC), Tommaso D'Orsogna (WA), Nicholas Ffrost (QLD), Thomas Fraser-Holmes (NSW), Jayden Hadler (QLD), Geoff Huegill (NSW), Robert Hurley (NSW), Andrew Lauterstein (NSW), Ryan Napoleon (QLD), Cameron Prosser (VIC), Brenton Rickard (QLD), Christian Sprenger (QLD), Hayden Stoeckel (SA), Eamon Sullivan (NSW), Christopher Wright (QLD), Peter Leek (NSW), Matthew Cowdrey (SA), Ben Austin (NSW), Blake Cochrane (QLD), Andrew Pasterfield (NSW).

Commonwealth Games squal Female (23):
Bronte Barratt (QLD), Alicia Coutts (QLD), Sophie Edington (QLD), Blair Evans (WA), Felicity Galvez (NSW), Katie Goldman (QLD), Marieke Guehrer (VIC), Melissa Gorman (QLD), Samantha Hamill (QLD), Belinda Hocking (NSW), Leisel Jones (VIC), Sarah Katsoulis (VIC), Yolane Kukla (QLD), Samantha Marshall (NSW), Alice Mills (QLD), Meagen Nay (QLD), Kylie Palmer (QLD), Leiston Pickett (QLD), Stephanie Rice (QLD), Jessicah Schipper (QLD), Emily Seebohm (QLD), Ellie Cole (VIC), Annabelle Williams (QLD).

Australia's first list for Commonwealth Games

World champions Steve Hooker and Dani Samuels will spearhead the Australian athletics team's charge on the 2010 Commonwealth Games after the two world title-holders were provisionally nominated alongside six fellow stars of track and field in the Delhi-bound team.

World championship gold medallists Hooker (pole vault) and Samuels (discus throw) are joined on the list of Round 1 nominations for the Australian team by Berlin World Championship bronze medal winner Mitchell Watt (long jump), fellow long jumper Fabrice Lapierre, Olympic medallists Sally McLellan (100m hurdles) and Jared Tallent (20km walk), marathon athlete Lisa Weightman and Collis Birmingham( 10000m).

Athletics Australia's High Performance strategy to send a large squad to the Commonwealth Games in 2010 teamed with the current high standard of athletics in Australia and the depth of domestic talent means almost 100 athletes look set to book a ticket to Delhi by the end of the upcoming season.

The eighth athlete to be nominated, Collis Birmingham, met the automatic selection criteria following his A-qualifying performance and national title win at the Zatopek:10 at Melbourne Olympic Park on December 10.

To confirm their selection in the Commonwealth Games team all athletes (marathon representatives excluded) must perform to at least the B-qualifying standard by the close of the national championships on April 18 unless granted exemption by Athletics Australia.

Athletics Australia will look to send its largest athletics team ever to contest a major overseas meet to next year's 19th edition of the Games, with over 100 athletes expected to be given a call-up to the squad.

Athletics Australia High Performance manager Eric Hollingsworth said, "We'll be taking away the biggest team ever to leave these shores."

He added: "Essentially it encourages everyone to have a go, the standards are within reach of a wide range of athletes and one of the key things we want to emphasise is that we want to take as many athletes as we can to the Commonwealth Games to finalise Athletics Australia's High Performance identification process."