Games chief defiant over poor crowds

Delhi Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi risked ridicule today as he appeared to be in denial over the near empty stadiums which greeted the first day of the Commonwealth Games.

Kalmadi, already under fire following a fraught build-up to the Games, insisted there had been queues “a mile long” outside venues and that the problems had been caused by a lack of ticket kiosks.