Media Release from Pune - 12th October 2008

Kirsten McArthur was up against the Australian number 6 seed today and found the going difficult. The match was very competitive with many deuce games, but the Australian won the match by 6v2, 6v3. Kirsten was pleased with her performance and recognised that she was up against a very good player. Meanwhile, Scott Clayton began his campaign against a competitor from the Cook Islands and gained in confidence as he overpowered his opponent 6v3, 6v2. He now moves into the second round and will face the Indian number 2, who is seeded number 6. This will be a great challenge for Scott as there will be a lot of local support for the Indian, but Scott is hoping he will be able to spring a surprise tomorrow. Charlie Cohen does not start his campaign until tomorrow so he has been busy supporting his fellow tennis players.

The Athletics starts tomorrow with Gemma Dawkins appearing in the first event at 7.30 in the morning, so it will be a very early start for her. She is closely followed by Stephen de la Haye in the preliminaries for the High Jump. The weather has cooled down in the last day or so and the rains are diminishing as today has been dry so far. However, the temperatures is still in the low 30C’s and the humidity has also dropped, so any event in the middle of the day is strenuous.

Things are calming down in the village as all the building workers have now left the site, but there are still things that are incomplete. I guess they will not now change since the Games have started but it is hoped that the site will be fully completed after the Games are finished to ensure that there will be a legacy for the Indian sports athletes to enjoy.

The two Jersey girls began competition today at the same time on adjacent courts in searing heat, but they experienced completely different matches. Kirsten McArthur enjoyed a relatively easy match against her Seychelles opponent winning comfortably by 6v0, 6v1. Kirsten gained confidence as the match progressed after a difficult opening game and now looks forward to a match in the second round against the Australian girl, Monica Wejnert, who is seeded number 6.

Katie Gouyette found the going tough against her Sri Lankan opponent going down 6v1, 6v1. Katie struggled with her serve and was unable to master her opponent’s percentage game. Katie will now look to her doubles matches with Kirsten early next week to hopefully find some level of success.
Our boys start their tennis singles competition tomorrow, but due to some late arrivals it looks like Scott Clayton will now have to play another opponent. We are not quite sure who it is, but all will be revealed tomorrow when the day’s play is published. This has become the accepted way here in India with previously agreed arrangements being changed. Everything eventually happens, but sometimes you do not know how!

The Opening Ceremony has just finished as I write this report. As expected it was a 5 hour extravaganza with thousands of participants including many young people, incredibly loud noise, vivid colour and fireworks. It was probably a very grand spectacle for most of the important guests and crowd, but it was not particularly athlete friendly as we did not march into the stadium until two and half hours into the show. It was a further hour before we were requested to be seated after the formalities had been completed. Then the cultural show began!! The athletes were unable to see the show whilst they were waiting and as many competitions start tomorrow, most of their seats emptied before the end of the ceremony. It was a fantastic production, but definitely for the guests rather than the athletes.

All members of Team Jersey are most grateful to Sanne Group for their sponsorship and to ESC for its grant to allow them to attend the Games