After several extended deadlines and a last minute rush, venues for the upcoming Commonwealth games in New Delhi look good to host the biggest-ever sporting extravaganza in India.

[Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman of the Olympic Committee]:
"All the venues are ready. There were grave apprehensions, but we told you that all the venues would be ready. There was rainfall, there were problems, but we are ready to host the games. All our teams are ready, our venue managers are in place, all the venue teams are in place, we are set to hold a very good competition for the Commonwealth Games."

Built at a cost of around three billion rupees, 'Thyagaraj' sports complex is among the first of the Games-related venues to meet its deadline. The playing arenas, warm-up areas, media centres and other facilities at the complex are comparable to the best in the world.

Other venues still require last minute finishing include the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium, due to host the aquatics events. Despite coming under much criticism earlier for shoddy work, it is said to now be the equal of any international swimming venue.

[Lalit Bhanot, Olympic Committee Secretary General]:
"It is a world level stadium, it is a world class stadium, you have yourself seen. Nobody ever dreamt that this is going to be such a good stadium. It is very outstanding, good stadium. We are proud of this stadium."

The boxing facility at the state-of-the-art Talkatora Stadium, built at Rs 1.5 billion, is all set for the event. India has high hopes of medals from its boxers.

[Venue Official]:
"We have got 241 entries from 48 countries. Very good entries in all 10 weight categories, we have got very stiff competition, but our Indian team will do very well."

The race to be ready for the games has come down to the wire, but finally India seems to be inching close to host a successful Commonwealth Games.