Wrestling bouts halted after speaker falls from ceiling

In an embarrassing incident for the organisers, the wrestling bouts at the Commonwealth Games had to be stopped and spectators were asked to vacate the hall after a speaker fell from the ceiling, minutes after the first session began.

Only five bouts could be completed when a speaker, used to relay announcement, fell near one of the mat chairmen, raising a safety issue at the Ceventary stadium and arena on the opening day of the wrestling competitions.

This was right after India’s Deepak Punia had won his opening 86kg bout.

The gathered fans were asked to vacate and a thorough check was ordered by the organisers, who fixed a restart of the session at 12:45 local time.

“All are safe, they are just rechecking the whole system to avoid any untoward incident,” said a coach.