India real force to reckon with during Delhi CWG: England chef de mission
New Delhi:England's chef de mission Craig Hunter reckons that India would be a real force to be reckoned with during the Delhi Commonwealth Games. When asked which nation Team England would be competing against for honours on the Commonwealth
Games medal table, Hunter said: "We recognize India - because of the nature of
the events in the games, there are some core events that the host nation can include
- clearly India will be a real force to be reckoned with." He also considers Canadian
athletes as major medal winning prospects. "Canada have been investing massively
in their program and have had great success at the Vancouver Olympics and that
will be a knock-on affect," Fox Sports quoted Hunter, as saying. "So, we know
it is going be a challenge. Obviously our aim is to be the very best we can be.
As (shooter) Mick (Gault) said, we are going to be there, we are going to be in
everybody's face and we are going to be aiming to win," he added. Team England
was second in the medal tally at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games with 110
medals - 36 gold, 40 silver and 34 bronze. However, their strength has been damaged
by a number of high profile withdrawals from the October 3-14 Games. Among the
British athletes who have withdrawn are world champions Jessica Ennis and Phillips
Idowu, Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu, double European champion Mo Farah
and world medallists Lisa Dobriskey and Jenny Meadows.
