England’s top weightlifters travel to Scotland to battle it out for selection for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games tomorrow (Saturday).
 
The England trials are part of the British Senior Weightlifting Championships, which take place at the Hunter Sports Centre in Kilmarnock. Men will contest eight weight divisions with women competing in seven.
 
Two athletes who represented England at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne will be in action at the championships - Gurbinder Cheema contests the men’s 105kg class with Jo Calvino going in the women’s 53kg class.
 
Both finished fourth in Melbourne, when Calvino went in the 48kg class. Cheema was particularly unfortunate to miss out on the podium – he lifted the same combined weight as the bronze medallist but missed out on the medals as Che Mat Che of Malaysia started with a lower bodyweight.
 
Kilmarnock will also see teenager Zoe Smith in action.  The 16-year-old who won silver in the under-58kg class at the European Youth Championships in Spain last month. She has already competed at a Commonwealths, winning gold for England as a 14-year-old at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.
 
“It’s going to be a tremendous championships,” said Maggie Lynes, England’s weightlifting team manager. “There’s a tremendous amount of pressure on athletes on Saturday to lift the qualification weight at the championships.”
 
The England weightlifting team for Delhi is likely to be announced next week, following the trials.
 
England’s weightlifters have collected more than 100 medals at the 15 Commonwealth Games to feature the sport. The women’s sport made its debut at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, as did powerlifting competitions for athletes with disabilities. Delhi will see a women’s powerlifting competition for the first time at a Commonwealth Games.
 
The 2010 Commonwealth Games take place in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. They will feature 17 sports - archery, aquatics (swimming, synchronised swimming & diving), athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby 7s, shooting, squash, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. With the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Commonwealth Games England is entering a breath-taking four years of sport.

Commonwealth Games England (GCE) is the organisation responsible for selecting and organising England's team at the Commonwealth Games.   England finished second to Australia on the medal table at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games with 36 golds, 40 silvers and 34 bronzes.

Sport England is responsible for building the foundations of sporting success, by creating a world-leading community sport system of clubs, coaches, facilities and volunteers. Their focus is growing and sustaining the numbers of people taking part in sport and improving talent development to help more people excel.
 

For further information about Commonwealth Games England please contact the Commonwealth Games England press office at Matchtight Ltd on 07765 071683 or 07831 755351 or see the CGE’s website at www.weareengland.org <http://www.weareengland.org <http://www.weareengland.org> >