CWG ticket sales: Hockey favourite, no takers for Rugby

The build-up may have been marred by delays, corruption allegations and security fears but tickets for the October 3 to 14 Commonwealth Games are still selling like hot cakes, if the retail outlets are to be believed.

"In the last two days, I have sold tickets worth Rs one lakh and twenty thousand," said Salman Siddiqui of Fast Trax restaurant chains, one of the retail outlets for tickets.

"Hockey has been the top draw with the October 10 match between Pakistan and India almost a sold out," said Siddiqui, adding that the remaining tickets would be sold out in a day or two at the most.

The next on the list surprisingly is, Gymnastics.

"Gymnastics is doing well. It is selling very well, even though it is not as popular as other sports," said another retailer.

However, shooting does not seem to be as popular a sport as hockey with the spectators, despite the fact that it garnered 27 medals in the last edition of the Games in Melbourne.

The retailers say big names are not able to attract people as much as they were expected to.

"Shooting is not selling like it was expected to. We have the best venues and big names in the sport but spectators are not buying tickets for shooting events at all," said Siddique.

Shooting aside, Rugby has also failed to click with the sports fans here with retailers saying that the least number of tickets have been sold for this sport.

"Rugby is a new sport in India and people are still clueless about it. So, obviously, they will not be so interested in a game they do not understand," explained Siddiqui.

Introduced in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, Rugby, or Rugby Sevens, as it is known, will be held on October 11 and 12 at the Delhi University ground.

India will lock horns with some of the best teams in the sport -- like New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa.

Siddiqui further says that tickets for the opening ceremony will be over in a few days.

Meanwhile, Sanjiv Mittal, Organising Committee Ticketing head, is very optimistic about ticket sales. "I believe stands for almost every event will be full," he said.