2008 Pune Commonwealth Youth Games to be biggest ever

New Delhi, Dec 27 (UNI) Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi today said the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune will be the biggest ever held.

Seventy-one countries will take part in the third edition of the Youth Games from October 12-18 next year in Pune, Kalmadi's home constituency.

''Sixteen countries participated in the first Youth Games in Edinburg (Scotland) in 2000, 23 countries took part in the second in Bendigo (Australia) in 2004. All the 71 founder countries have confirmed participation in Pune,'' Kalmadi told reporters at a press conference here.

''This shows tremendous interest of the Youth Games in India and I see no reason why the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi should not create much more interest among the sporting fraternity of the Commonwealth,'' he added.

''Everything is going smoothly regarding preparations for Pune Youth Games. The city (Pune) will get a huge facelift after the Games. The same would be the case for Delhi also (after the 2010 Games),'' Kalmadi said.

UNI