Commonwealth Games line-up

Aug 20 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TEAM Scotland will see 191 competitors pushing for medals at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

And there’s a strong Perth and Kinross contingent involved.

This week, Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) named the 108 men and 83 women selected to compete at the XIX Commonwealth Games in India from October 3-14.

Fair City table tennis star Gavin Rumgay, a contender for gold in Delhi, has, as expected, been joined by Scottish 400-metre hurdles record holder Eilidh Child, the Perth Grammar teacher from Kinross-shire.

Perthshire shooter Ian Marsden, who will be making his seventh Games appearance, is a medallist from 1990 and 1994 and was the flag carrier for Scotland at the opening ceremony in 2006.

Another competitor with Perth links is cycling road racer Anne Ewing.

Scotland's tennis line-up includes British number one Elena Baltacha, a former Youth Games medallist from 2000 and mixed doubles specialist who grew up in Perth, and Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Jamie Murray from Dunblane.

Medal winning swimmer Caitlin McClatchey, who was inspirational in Melbourne, has strong family ties to the Fair City.

The team size is comparable with Manchester and is significantly bigger than the 166 selected for Melbourne, despite rigorous selection standards being upheld.

Scotland will be participating in 16 out of the 17 sports on the Games programme.

There are some new sports on the programme, in tennis and women's wrestling, whilst archery makes a long awaited return to the Games.

Perth-born Eilidh Child, who now lives in Kinross, is one of just 19 competitors from scottishathletics.

The PE teacher fits her training around her work and has a school full of young supporters keen to cheer her on and take inspiration from all her achievements.

Her silver at the European U23 Championships last year indicated her potential and she made a breakthrough on the senior stage at the European Championships in Barcelona in July where she reached the final.

“It means a lot to me as it’s the one and only time you get to run for Scotland,” she said of her selection.

“It’s also extremely special as it’s a small team where you know everyone, rather than a GB squad which can be quite daunting, so morale will be very high. This is the first time I will have competed in such a large event with so many sports which makes it all the more special.”

Congratulating all members of Team Scotland, Michael Cavanagh, chairman, CGS, said: “Our selection process has been rigorous and robust throughout, and although the standards set have been tough, our athlete's have clearly risen to the challenge as shown by the increase in the numbers achieving them since the last Games.”

The athletes will be supported by a staff of 91, comprising team management, coaches, medical and sports science support, including doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, physiologists and performance analysts.

Among the team sponsors are Clydesdale Bank and Emirates Airlines.

Competition gets underway on Monday, October 4 when swimming, archery, badminton, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, squash, tennis, and weightlifting will all be in action.