Aquatics
The Aquatics events at the Commonwealth Games consist of diving, swimming and synchronized swimming. It is an important sports organized at commonwealth games and in the 2010 games, players from various countries competed for a total of 48 sets of medals in different aquatics events.
It consist of events for both men and women in various categories. The competition takes place for Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly in 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m. Other than this the event also includes Individual Medley for 200m and 400m and 4x100m and 4x200m Freestyle.The Commonwealth Games Federation follows the FINA rules for aquatics.
Archery
At the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, 2010 archery was included for the second time as a competing sport. The game was introduced for the first time at the Brisbane Commonwealth games in 1982.
The most popular form of archery is target archery, this game can be played both indoors and outdoors. Field archery is another type of archery and it is played outdoors.
There are two categories in two events where both men and women can compete in archery. The two events are Recurve and Compound while the categories are team and individual.
Athletics
Different sports which are part of athletics at commonwealth games are Pole Vault, High Jump, Heptathlon, Shot Put, Long Jump, Javelin Throw, Discus Throw, Hammer Throw, Triple Jump, and Marathon.
There are a number of categories and events in this sport. In track event there are 12 categories. These categories are: 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, 3000 m Steeplechase, 5000 m, 10000 m, 110 m H, 400 m H, 4×100 m Relay, and 4×400 m Relay.
Under throws event, there are a total of four categories. These are: Discus Throw, Javelin Throw, Shot Put and Hammer Throw.
In the jumps even there are four categories. They are: Pole Vault, High Jump, Long Jump and Triple Jump.
In the combined event there are two categories – Heptathlon for women and Decathlon for men. Road event consists of Marathon and 20 kilometer walk for both men and women.
Badminton
It was introduced for the first time in the 1966 commonwealth games. In 2010 commonwealth games, 6 events are included for badminton.
Apart from singles, doubles and mixed doubles events there was a team event as well. A maximum of 5 players from each country can participate in the various events. There are a total of 18 medals, which can be won at Commonwealth Games 2010.
Badminton events consist of games for both men and women. For men’s and women’s events the categories are singles and doubles. There are also mixed doubles and team categories in this event.
Boxing
It is a ‘core sport’ of Commonwealth Games in which only men can take part. It is one sport which has featured in every Commonwealth Games. In total there are 40 medals to be won for boxing at the Commonwealth Games 2010.
The fours basic punches which are allowed in a game of boxing are uppercut, cross, jab and hook. Rules of International Boxing Association (AIBA) were followed during 2010 Commonwealth Games. It was played on knockout format and winners in each bout was to proceed further. Only one athlete from a country can take part in a single boxing bout.
Cycling
It is an optional sport played in the Commonwealth Games. Road Cycling and Track Cycling are the two disciplines which are included in this game. There are various categories in events for men and women.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games there was 14 Track Cycling events where eight for men and six for women. There was two road events for men and women. There are a total of 54 medals to be won in various categories.
Gymnastics
It is an optional sport played in the Commonwealth Games. The two major categories are artistic and rhythmic gymnastics: in the rhythmic category only women can participate. There are 60 medals to be won in various categories of gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games 2010.
Hockey
10 countries participated in hockey at Commonwealth Games 2010. There were men’s as well as women’s team from each of these 10 country.
Hockey was included as a sport for the first time at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. There are a total of three medals, for which the teams compete at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Rules of International Hockey Federation (FIH) are used for the Commonwealth Games. There is a goalie, defenders, center and wings in a team. Their main task of a team is to score as many goals as they can, and prevent the opposition from scoring any goals. At the end of the stipulated hours of play, the team having the maximum number of goals is declared winner.
Lawn Bowls
It is a core sport of Commonwealth games. This sport has been a part of all the 17 Commonwealth Games except the 1966 games at Jamaica. The lawn bowls event at Commonwealth Games 2010 has six competitions for men and women.
There are two events – men’s and women’s, in which there are three categories each. The three categories are singles, pairs and triples.
Netball
It is a core sport of Commonwealth Games. Being a core sports, the game has been include in all the Commonwealth Games organized till date. At the Commonwealth Games 2010, 12 countries competed to win medals in this sport.
In a game of Netball the objective of the player is to pass the ball to teammates and score goals.
They must stop the opposing team from scoring and the team, which has the highest number of goals at the end of the game, is the winner.
Netball is an event only for women. The participants for this event were chosen based on the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) rankings.
Rugby Sevens
It is a men’s event which is a part of the Commonwealth Games 2010. This event made its debut at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. However, now it has become a core sport, so it will feature in all future Commonwealth Games.
Shooting
Shooting is an optional sport that is part of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As an event, shooting made its debut at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. After that, this sport has been a part of all Commonwealth Games except the 1979 games. The events included in shooting are – skeet, trap, pistol and rifle.
Squash
It is one of the core sports of Commonwealth Games. Both men’s and women’s team from countries participated in this event at CWG 2010.
A match is played for 3 or 5 games; the first player to score 11 points wins the game. In case of a tie breaker, play will continue till one player leads by two points. Winner of a game serves first in the next game.
The three categories in Commonwealth Games 2010 are men, women and mixed. In men’s and women’s categories there are single and double events. In mixed category, there is only doubles event.
Table tennis
It is an optional sport, which has been included at the Commonwealth Games 2010. Players from various countries competed for a total of 21 medals in Table Tennis. The event was introduced for the first time at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.
Popularly known as ping pong, two or four players can play this game at a time. A lightweight hollow ball (usually white) and a small racket are used to play a game of table tennis. It is played on a hard board, which is divided in the middle by a net.
A match consists of 3 or 5 games. The first player to score of 11 wins the game; the winning margin is two points more than the other player. A player can serve two points continuously before changing the server. At the end of each game, players have to switch sides. However, for the final game, players switch sides after any one of them scores 5 points.
In table tennis there are 3 events – men, women and mixed. In men’s and women’s event the categories are Singles, Doubles and Team. In mixed event, there is only one category i.e. doubles.
Tennis
It is an optional sport which made its debut at the Commonwealth Games 2010. A maximum of three players for single matches and a maximum of two teams for doubles and mixed doubles can take part in the event. Teams competed to win 15 medals in this category.
There were three Tennis events at the commonwealth games – men, women and mixed doubles. The categories in the event are: men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles.
Weightlifting
It was first introduced as an event in the 1950 Commonwealth Games held at Auckland. In weightlifting athletes try to lift maximum weight in a single haul or two hauls. The weights to be lifted are loaded with barbell and weight plates. Snatch and clean- and-jerk are the two categories of weightlifting. A maximum of 8 athletes can take in men’s category and 7 in women’s category from a country at the commonwealth games.
In snatch, the player has to lift the barbell by drawing it directly from the platform to the full stretch of his arms, above the head in one motion.
In clean-and-jerk there are two separate movements. The player pulls the bar from the ground in one movement till the shoulder, while slightly drooping into a squat. After becoming steady, the player bends the legs taking them apart and raising the bar to full arm stretch at the same time. The legs must then be brought together and they have to wait for the referee’s signal.
Each athlete is given 3 attempts to lift as heavy bar as possible. The best weight in each category is then combined for the total score. If two lifters finish with the same score, then the one with the lower body weight is placed higher.
Wrestling
It is an optional event, which has been included at the Commonwealth Games 2010. A total of 7 wrestlers can represent their country in the freestyle and Greco Roman categories for both men’s and women’s events. The other types of wrestling include Greco-Roman, Freestyle wrestling, Grappling, Combat Grappling.
Wrestling is a physical competition between two participants. The aim of a competing wresting is to pin the opponent to the ground on his back. The event involves the use of different types of techniques like joint locks, throws and takedowns, pins, clinch fighting, and other grappling holds.
In competitive wrestling, a player tries to pin down the opponent on the floor. For a successful fall, the player must put the opponent’s back or part of either shoulders or shoulder blades in contact with the mat on the floor for two seconds. As soon as the opposition is pinned to the ground, the match is over.
Highlights of Commonwealth Games 2014