JAMAICAN badminton player Dennis Coke and swimmer Kendese Nangle open their campaign at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in the South-east Asian city state today.

Coke will be the first Jamaican in action playing in the badminton men’s singles event. He first takes on Laotian Phetphanom Keophiachan at the Singapore Indoor Stadium Court 3 before facing the Indian player Haseen Sunil Kumar Prannoy in game five later on.

Nangle, who carried the national flag at yesterday’s ceremony, is drawn in heat two of the youth women’s 100m backstroke.

Twelve athletes, two swimmers, and one badminton player make up Jamaica’s 15-member participating contingent at the YOG.

Brian Forte is the other swimmer while the athletes are Janieve Russell, Megan Simmonds, Sasha-Gaye Marston, Olivia James, Rochelle Farquharson, Shanice Hall, Sherika Jackson, Ashinia Miller, Frederick Dacres, Odean Skeen, Stefan Fennell and Lennox Williams. Athletics begins on Tuesday.

Denise Forrest is chef de mission while the team is also accompanied by athletic manager Grace Jackson and coach David Riley, badminton manager Audley Astwood, swim coach Greg Wriede, and physiotherapist Pat Lue-Chin.

Meanwhile, a towering flame was lit in the heart of Singapore yesterday, signalling the start of the inaugural Youth Olympics.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said the event would inspire young people around the world to take up sport but also teach them the importance of fair play, team work and living healthy lives.

A jubilant crowd of 27,000 packed a stadium overlooking Singapore’s Marina Bay to cheer on the 3,600 athletes from 204 countries as they made their way across a huge outdoor stage.

The two-and-a-half hour ceremony was filled with fireworks, towering puppets and colorful dance performances that emphasized the youthful theme of the games while showcasing Singapore’s transformation from a dreary trading port to a modern metropolis.

— Observer/AP