Gymnastics announce well balanced team for Delhi
By Effective Communication
Six gymnasts are beaming with joy after being selected for Team Wales in this year’s Commonwealth Games.
Male gymnasts Grant Gardiner, 18, from Aldershot, Matthew Hennessey, 20, from Wrexham, Robert Hunter, 23, from Chester, Clinton Purnell, 21, from Cardiff, and Alex Rothe, 17, from Llanelli will compete in the artistic section. A decision will be made closer to the games whether each athlete will compete in all of the six apparatus – floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, P bars and horizontal bar – or their specialist apparatus only.
Francesca Jones, 19, from Kettering, will compete in all the rhythmic events – rope, ball, hoop and ribbon – where she will attempt to qualify for the individual all around final and each individual apparatus final.
The six were nominated by the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales committee and will be heading for Delhi for the October tournament as part of an expected near 150-strong Welsh squad of sportsmen and women.
Travelling to India with the squad, will be coach Pete Haysham from Barry and City & County of Swansea Sports Development Officer and Andrew Morris. Andrew, who captained the 1990 Commonwealth Games team in Aukland said: “We are expecting great thing from this team. Francesca travels to Delhi will games experience. After being the youngest member in Melbourne, she has now matured into a formidable competitor, and with her recent win at the GB Championships she is now ready to prove her quality at her second Games.
“Our men’s team are all new to the Games experience but have come a long way in achieving the stringent standards that were required for selection. I believe that we have a team that will produce some surprises in India.”
Chris Jenkins, Director of the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales, said: “Gymnastics have a really strong team with each athlete excelling at their individual disciplines. They are a young team, but they are full of enthusiasm I know they can’t wait to get to Delhi and show the world what they can do.”
The gymnastic competition will take place over five days (4-8 Oct) in the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi. Gymnastics was first included on the Commonwealth Games Programme in 1978 Edmonton Games.
Up to 8,000 competitors from 71 countries – including up to 200 Welsh athletes – will compete in 17 sports in the 2010 Games from October 3-14.
The tournament is the only multi-sport international event in which Wales competes as a country in its own right, and Welsh athletes hold 15 current Commonwealth Games records in 110 hurdles, 400 metres, cycling, shooting and weightlifting categories. Wales won 19 medals at the Melbourne Games four years ago.
Tags: Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010, Gymnastics
