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Ticket sales surging day by day, claims Suresh Kalmadi

His comments came even as stars like Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra and tennis player Sania Mirza performed in front of empty seats.

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Even as some of the disciplines in the Commonwealth Games are being staged in front of near-empty stands, organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi today claimed the ticket sales were "surging" day by day.

"We are looking into that. Ticket sales are picking up and the stadia are getting filled up in many events. There were real surge in sales of tickets as Indians are winning medals," Kalmadi told a press conference.

Kalmadi said the disciplines like rugby 7s, swimming and boxing, where Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh is taking part, are being watched by considerable number of people.

"Yesterday 1.25 lakh tickets were sold. All tickets of rugby have been sold out, 100% tickets of boxing and badminton semi-final are finished. 80% tickets of tennis and swimming competitions are also sold out," Kalmadi said.

His comments came even as stars like Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra and tennis player Sania Mirza performed in front of empty seats.

Mike Fennell, chief of Commonwealth Games Federation, was concerned over the poor turnout of the spectators.

"Yes, we are concerned about that and we continue to work on that," Fennell said.

Asked about the athletics medal ceremony being held in front of empty stands of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fennell admitted that there were some logistical problems.

"This continues to be a problem we have in last event. I have seen such things crop up even in the Olympic Games in Beijing. There is some logistical problem," Fennell said.

"I do agree that medal ceremony should be held in front of audience. This is a matter that concerns us and it also depends on the athletes' availability," he added.

Joint director general of the OC, Sanjeev Mittal who was also present at the conference, said security and transport "hassles" were not a dampener for spectators keen to watch the events.

"It (ticket sales) is increasing day by day. I don't think security hassles and availability of transports can play dampener," he said.

Kalmadi, also the chief of Indian Olympic Association, said that the Indian medal winners will be provided with financial support.

"We will surely give the Indian medallists financial support," Kalmadi said, when asked whether IOA was thinking about extending help to the successful Indians.

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