BOLTON was flying the flag and keeping its fingers crossed today as Manchester entered the final straight in the bid to stage the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

The decision of the Games Federation was expected in Bermuda at teatime today.

And if, as widely expected, delegates vote "Yes" for Manchester, there will be more than just Sir Bob Scott and his bid team celebrating.

For Bolton - which showed what it could do when it staged the world triathlon championships at Rivington two years ago - will play an even greater part in the Commonwealth Games. Bolton's principal leisure officer Pete Bradshaw has been plugging away for Bolton at every Commonwealth Games planning meeting, because he says: "It is the City of Manchester's bid to host the games, but there's no way they can do it alone. The tourism potential for Bolton is enormous if the games come to Manchester."

The Commonwealth flag was flying over Bolton town hall today. The games will cost £56million to stage, but they should break even with TV rights and sponsorship. And it is predicted they will trigger a boom worth 4,000 jobs and million of pounds in investment in the region. Road cycling, the marathon and the triathlon are all events which look likely to be held in Bolton.

And the planned new Wanderers' stadium at Horwich will be a contender to stage team sports such as soccer, rugby sevens and netball. Rowing and canoeing events are expected to be staged at Leigh's Pennington country park. But fears were growing that Leigh may not get the swimming and the super-pool that would go with it. A consortium of the Manchester universities is stepping up the pressure to have the new pool built in the city.

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