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Commonwealth Youth Games 2008
Michelle John and Trenace Lowe shine on Day one
Guyanese Boxer at the Commonwealth Youth Games Stefan Gouveia (right)) adding Guyana seawater to the Games urn.
The Guyanese team to the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games being held in Pune, India suffered mixed fortunes on the opening day of the games, yesterday.
Table tennis queens Michelle John and Trenace Lowe opened their quest for top honours with comfortable 3-0 wins over Shyreen Pensulo of Malawi and Shaunda Brash of Jamaica respectively.
Male table tennis player Nigel Bryan took on Canada’s Ling Yang and lost that encounter 3-1 but he later redeemed himself in the afternoon session when he trounced St. Vincent & the Grenadines Kavir Gaymes Jr., 3-0.
John and Lowe were again busy in the afternoon session with John getting past Priscilla Maphanga of South Africa 3-1 while Lowe edged Emmanuelle Lavoie of Canada 3-2.
In the boxing ring, Herlando Allicock competing in the Light Flyweight division easily conquered Denis Andre of Mauritius 19-10.
But in an unfortunate mishap, his teammate Akeem Alexender campaigning in the Light Welterweight category suffered an injury in the third round of his bout against Shanthosh Virothu of India and the fight was stopped by the referee.
Meanwhile, the rich cultural heritage of India and the great Maratha spirit came alive on Sunday when the spectacular sporting bonanza of the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008 began in Pune.
Her Excellency, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India, declared the Games open in the presence of eminent dignitaries, famed athletes and galleries full of sports lovers.
Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, MP and Chairman, Commonwealth Youth Games Pune 2008 and Commonwealth Youth Games Delhi 2010 expressed his happiness that for the first time all the 71 nations were participating in Commonwealth Youth Games. He also thanked Puneties for their overwhelming support and warm welcome extended by them to the participants.
Over 1,300 athletes and 350 officials from 71 countries are participating in 9 disciplines -Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
The Opening Ceremony at the impressive Athletics Stadium at Balewadi Sports City on the outskirts of Pune began with welcome note by the Army band and an elegant equestrian parade by Mewar Horses.
The Youth Baton was carried by P T Usha, Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, Gopichand, Anjali Bhagwat, Dhanraj Pillai, Jitendra Kumar, Nandu Natekar, Ajit Pal Singh, Zafar Iqbal, Akhil Kumar, Sushil Kumar and Vijender among others.
Ace shooter and Olympic Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra picked up the Kalash with water from the ‘Tribune of Honour’ and poured the water into the Grand Kalash. The ‘Fountain of Youth’ then came alive in its full glory.
The Commonwealth Youth Games at Pune are being seen as a curtain raiser for the Commonwealth Youth Games to be hosted by India in New Delhi in 2010.
The Youth Games will also serve to identify India’s medal winning potential athletes for the main Commonwealth Youth Games, Asian Games and the Olympic Games.
The most unique feature of these games is their venue, Shiv Chhatrapati Sports City at Balewadi on the outskirts of Pune, as it is for the first time that the competition venues of all disciplines and the Athletes Village will be housed in a single sports complex. The sprawling complex is located on 153 acres of land.
The mascot of the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games is “Jigrr”, a young tiger cub, the national animal of India. Jigrr is the younger brother of ‘Shera’, the mascot of 2010 Commonwealth Youth Games.
The name “Jigrr”, is an amalgam of the word “Jigar”, which implies courage in Hindi and also the sound of a tiger roar ‘grrr…’
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