CWG comes to an end with colourful ceremony

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A dazzling laser show and a musical extravaganza tonight marked the grand finale of the Commonwealth Games, the biggest sporting event hosted by India which crowned itself with sporting glory by winning an unprecedented 101 medals.

Skies over the nation's capital lit with multi-colour laser beams as part of the 140-minute closing ceremony at the Jawarharlal Nehru stadium filled to capacity of 60,000 cheering sports lovers including Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi as well as other sundry VIPs.

As at the spectacular opening ceremony 12 days ago, all the controversies that had dogged the Games - corruption, filth, snakes, mismanagement -- were momentarily forgotten because some 5000 athletes from 71 countries had sportingly competed for 826 medals of which India won 101, including 38 gold, its highest ever, to be the second in the tally behind Australia with a total of 177.

In Image: Indian schoolchildren perform as images of the national flag are projected on an aerostat during the closing ceremony for the 19th Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, Thursday, October 14, 2010.

Text: PTI / Images: AP