AQUATICS
Scotland’s youngest team member, 14 year old Grace Reid made her Commonwealth Games debut today in the diving 3m springboard diving event, on the final day of competition in the pool. Grace dived steadily through the morning qualification round to finish in seventh position and qualify for the final. She continued her good form in the afternoon session to finishing sixth overall, settings a new pb in the process of 303.5 points. This is the first time a British junior diver has ever scored over 300 points.

Loving every minute of the Games experience Grace said: “Competing in my first Commonwealth Games was an unbelievable experience and along with the Europeans in the summer it has been great to have so many opportunities. I was really nervous today, but that is probably a good thing before my event.

“There are huge stars here which is inspirational, but at the end of the day I just try to focus on my own performance. I did a massive pb today so I am really pleased with how it all went.

“It is a huge honour to have the next Games in Scotland and I am just going to keep on working hard, learn some new dives and see where that takes me.”

ATHLETICS
Martin Williams will compete for Team Scotland in the marathon tomorrow, starting at 0630hrs local time.

BADMINTON
Susan Egelstaff’s bid for a third Commonwealth medal came to a disappointing end tonight at the Siri Fort Sports Complex. Egelstaff won a team bronze in 2002 and bronze in the women’s singles four years ago in Melbourne, but she couldn’t add to that tally in Delhi when she was beaten 21-18 21-16 in the bronze medal play-off by England’s Liz Cann.

BOXING
It was the final night of action at the Talkatora Stadium today with Team Scotland coming away with three medals (one gold, one silver, and one bronze).

Josh Taylor was first up for against England’s Thomas Stalker for the Lightweight title. It was a tough fight, and the experience of the Englishman showed as he came out on top 11-3. Light heavyweight Callum Johnson then faced Thomas McCarthy of Northern Ireland, where he dominated from the start, winning 8-1 to take gold. Stephen Simmons donned his morph suit once more to support the team, before changing back into team kit to collect his heavyweight bronze medal.

For more information see news story.

CYCLING
David Millar made history in Delhi on Wednesday, becoming the first Scot ever to win a gold medal in a road cycling event.

After his bronze in Sunday’s road race, Millar was the favourite going into the 40km time trial, which was made challenging by strong wind. The race was held on an expressway on the outskirts of Delhi, with a tailwind-assisted first 20km before the riders had to turn and ride directly into the wind – an experience Millar later said was “like pedalling through treacle.”

Yet as others struggled along the flat course, Millar was a model of efficiency – head down, legs slicing up and down, he cut through the wind like a blade. After leading England’s Alex Dowsett at half-distance – by just four seconds – his margin of victory was a whopping 54 seconds on the line.

Evan Oliphant also finished his Games strongly, putting in a good ride in his fourth event to place eleventh. Andy Fenn also rode well, for a final position of 14th. And earlier, in the 29km women’s time trial, Team Scotland’s Pippa Handley was 16th.

GYMNASTICS
Vicky Clow competed in the rhythmic gymnastics individual all around competition, where she put in a confident performance to finish in 14th position with a score of 74.850.

Vicky said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have made it through to the all round competition today, and I’m pleased with my overall performance. I did think I’d get a higher score for my ball routine, as I feel that I done better today than yesterday but I was scored less. I’m not going to let that get to me though as it’s not something that I can control.

“I’m really proud of myself, being out here at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and competing against all of these top gymnasts who have just been to the World Championships, and I have held my own out there. It’s been such an amazing opportunity and the perfect platform for the Games in 2014, where I hope to be one of those girls in the top ranking competing for a medal.”

LAWN BOWLS
Scotland’s two remaining bowlers faced tough semi-final playoffs this morning in the Delhi sun. Claire Johnston lost 2-0 to Val Smith of New Zealand, before Paul Foster was defeated by Welshman Rob Weale, 1.5-0.5.

SHOOTING
It was the final day of competition at the two shooting ranges today with seven shooters in action. Neil Stirton and Jon Hammond competed in the 50m prone singles event where they qualified in fifth and first respectively for the afternoon final. Jon went on to win gold with a score of 595-43x, while Neil shot 592-31x to finish fifth. Angus McLeod and Ian Shaw completed the final day of the full-bore competition, taking silver in the pairs with a score of 587-46v.

Drew Christie and Ian Marsden shot in the final stage of the skeet singles competition where they finished fourth (143) and ninth (116) respectively. Caroline Brownlie also competed in the 10m air pistol event, finishing 12th in the qualification round on 367-5x.

For more information see news story.

SQUASH
Scotland’s bid for a Commonwealth Games medal on the squash court came to an end today when Alan Clyne and Harry Leitch were squeezed out of the podium positions in the bronze medal play-off match. The Scots were beaten 11/5 11/7 by Australians Ryan Cuskelly and Cameron Pilley.

Josh Taylor and Callum Johnson will fight for Commonwealth Games gold medals at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, with both boxers comfortable winners of their semi-finals on Monday.

Taylor enjoyed a convincing 5-0 win over Lomalito Moala of Tongo to set up a final against a boxer he knows well, England’s Thomas Stalker.

“I can’t wait for Wednesday, for the final – bring it on,” said Taylor, the lightweight who has conceded just two points in his four fights so far.

“I’ve sparred with Thomas twice before at the GB camp down in Sheffield,” he continued. “It was really close sparring – really technical sparring – and he’s a really good fighter. I’ve got respect for him, but I think I’m going to win this fight.”

Explaining his loss of just two points in the tournament, Taylor said: “My defence has been pretty good. I’ve been working on that for a bit more than a year now. Even when I’m throwing punches, I’m watching what’s coming back, which has been helping me a lot here.”

The 19-year old won a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008, and he admitted he couldn’t have predicted that just two years later he would be fighting for a gold medal in the senior Games.

“I didn’t expect to be here in 2008,” he said. “[The Youth Games] was massive, and I was overwhelmed by the experience, by the big arenas. But I think it was a good experience because it’s set me up for this, and I’ve got used to the atmosphere. It’s helped my boxing. I’m not so nervous in the ring anymore.”

Johnson was an even more convincing winner, with Welshman Jermaine Asaire counted out in the second round, by which time Johnson had amassed eleven points to Asaire’s one.

“He’s a tough, strong boy and he’s done well to get to the semi finals, but to put him down like that, and to put in such a dominant performance, it’s given me the world of confidence,” said Johnson. “I’ve proved I’m the best in Britain, and I want to stake my claim as the Commonwealth number one on Wednesday.

“We’ve got a really strong team,” Johnson continued. “And we’ve gone in a year from decent to being able to mix it with the best in the world. I’m really proud to captain the team.

“I want to keep my feet on the ground,” he added. “I don’t want to get too excited because I don’t want silver, I want gold.”

In the final Johnson will face Northern Irishman Thomas McCarthy. “I’ve fought him before,” said Johnson. “It was about seven months ago, and he got the decision on a close fight. But seven months have gone by, I’ve done some good training, and I’m in good form, so I’m hoping I can return the favour and take that gold medal home.”

Stephen Simmons was Scotland’s only representative in the evening session, but lost 6-1 to Northern Ireland’s Steven Ward. “I’m absolutely gutted with that. I felt really tired after about a minute. It could have been down to me going down a weight a few months ago, and coming back up to heavyweight over the last three months.”

Stephen will still walk away from Delhi with a bronze medal, but says he’s not satisfied with the result. “It means nothing to me I came here for gold, but it’ll mean something to my boy Stephen. I’m disappointed, but I guess it’s a step further than last time and I’ll look forward to 2014 and I’ll take gold in my home town.”

Scotland played their hearts out in the plate final today at Delhi University but it was just one match too far after two tough and tiring matches earlier in the day. Samoa ran out victors 34-0 to lift the Plate.

Samoa had the advantage of extra rest time as they played their semi before the Scots. Their strength and stamina shone through as they worked hard across the pitch and capitalised on their chances and Scotland’s errors.

Scotland Captain, Scott Forrest reviewed the competition saying, “Overall it’s disappointing to finish on that result but there have been a lot of good things for us in this competition. It was very tight against South Africa; it could have gone either way. The work rate in the Kenya game was outstanding. To go to extra time, dig in and get the result was really great. All credit to Samoa; they’re quick off the ball and deserved their win.”

Seventeen points ahead at the break, the momentum continued in Samoa’s favour as Scottish legs tired and the trophy slipped out their grasp. The reigning IRB Series Champions take fifth spot while Scotland settles for sixth position; but against the level teams competing, it is a result for the players to be proud of.

Scotland coach Stephen Gemmell said after his last match at the helm, “The boys have put in a tremendous effort over the last few days and it’s a case of what could have been. It’s a missed opportunity (the South African defeat) but they came back well against Kenya, a great spirit was needed to do that so I can’t ask for anymore.

“I’ve loved my time coaching the squad. It’s a massive honour to coach your country and I’ve had some wonderful experiences. I hope Scotland 7s continues to move forward and go from strength to strength.”

Forrest concluded, “Overall, we’re going to remember the good bits. The Games have been great; the boys have really loved it. The extra training out here really did pay off and getting behind the other athletes has been a wonderful part of the experience too.”

Gold – New Zealand
Silver – Australia
Bronze – South Africa
4th – England
5th – Samoa
6th – Scotland
7th – Papua New Guinea
8th – Canada

Picking themselves up from the disappointment of narrowly losing to South Africa in the earlier quarter-final, Scotland fought against Kenya to the very end and won on golden point in extra time to reach the plate final.

Mike Adamson scored the first try after Stuart McInally collected the ball from the kick-off and worked it wide for Adamson to run over the line.

He failed to convert his own try and the athletic Kenyans replied with a converted try in the last minute of the half. But play was not over yet, Scotland won the restart once again and Colin Shaw broke through to go in under the posts, Adamson converting to give them a crucial advantage at the break (12-7).

Two minutes into the second half, it looked as though Scotland would ease ahead when Lee Jones got his first try of the day to give them a ten point gap.

Shaw took a hard knock in a try-saving tackle but the Kenyans made it over a few minutes later to claw back within five points, and they followed it up with their third try coming from a midfield interception with only 15 seconds left on the clock. The crucial conversion went wide meaning it would be decided by a golden point in extra time.

Andrew Turnbull then looked like he’d won it for the Scots as he broke away but was called back for crossing behind his team mate. It was then Kenya’s turn to be denied, they touched-down but the try was disallowed for a double-movement over the line.

Twenty-six seconds remaining on the clock, Scotland won their own line-out, Jones saw a gap open up in the defence and he sprinted 50m for a 22-17 win.

A relieved Jones said, “It was only going to be hard at this time of the day against the Kenyans but we managed to get the win and I am really proud of the boys. The Kenyan’s are big, strong and have pace but we kept to our tactics well and got the all-important win. We’re going to go for it in the last match and hopefully finish the Games on a high.”

The plate final takes place at 15.50hrs, Samoa the challenging opponents.

David Millar made history in Delhi on Wednesday, becoming the first Scot ever to win a gold medal in a road cycling event.

After his bronze in Sunday’s road race, Millar was the favourite going into the 40km time trial, which was made challenging by strong wind. The race was held on an expressway on the outskirts of Delhi, with a tailwind-assisted first 20km before the riders had to turn and ride directly into the wind – an experience Millar later said was “like pedalling through treacle.”

Yet as others struggled along the flat course, Millar was a model of efficiency – head down, legs slicing up and down, he cut through the wind like a blade. After leading England’s Alex Dowsett at half-distance – by just four seconds – his margin of victory was a whopping 54 seconds on the line.

“I felt good, though it was not the sort of course I like,” said Millar. “I prefer it when it’s up and down, and left and right, and more dynamic, but it was a beautiful ride. Normally I get info [time splits] in a time trial but there was nothing, which was a little bit disconcerting.

“Yesterday, when I rode the course, I saw the wind was going to be the big difficulty,” he continued. “It meant you were riding at 60kph on the way out, which is fast, but you have at the back of the mind that you’ve got a U-turn in 20km.

“It was important not to get carried away in the first half of the ride. I think everyone felt like Superman, it was so fast. It was really heavy coming back, like pedalling in treacle, and not much fun.”

After stepping off the podium – where Millar was given his gold medal by First Minister Alex Salmond – Millar admitted the presentation had been an emotional affair. “This is special, it’s what I aimed for all year,” he said.

And asked what it meant to represent Scotland for the first time in his career, he added: “It’s the reason I’m doing it: to wear the Scotland jersey and win in the Scotland jersey; it means the world to me.

“It’s the first chance I’ve ever had to do it, so it was quite emotional on the podium. When you’re so focused on the event, you forget why you do it, and why it’s so important to you. But when I was standing on the podium and the flag was going up, and the whole team was standing in front of me, singing Flower of Scotland, it hit home what it meant to me.

“I’ve lived all over the place and moved my whole life; I lost my accent when I was 6 or 7 years old, but my heart’s in Scotland. And that came home on the podium.

“I’ve had a fairly odd life to date, travelling and moving around, and I’ve had some great experiences, but my home has always been Scotland, my parents are Scottish and proud, and to actually do something when I’m part of Scotland, it feels special. I haven’t lived there for years but that’s where I’m from and today it felt like that. I owe a lot to Scotland; they believed in me and supported me the last few years and this is a little way to say thank you to them.”

Starting the race as favourite did add some pressure, Millar admitted. “It did affect me a bit on the road, when I came up [to catch] on what I thought was Luke Durbridge, then saw it was Dave McCann. I thought: uh oh. Where’s Luke? Then I saw him.

“I’ve done so many time trials this year that I have a protocal, a routine, and from when I wake up in the morning I know what I’m doing,” explained Millar. “That doesn’t change whether I’m at the Tour de France or here in Delhi.”

Evan Oliphant also finished his Games strongly, putting in a good ride in his fourth event to place 11th. Andy Fenn also rode well, for a final position of 14th. And earlier, in the 29km women’s time trial, Team Scotland’s Pippa Handley was 16th.

AQUATICS

Scotland’s Grace Reid competes tomorrow in the 3m springboard event, on the final day of action in the pool.

ATHLETICS

It was the final night of track and field action in Delhi tonight and the Scots were out to collect a few more medals in front of the amazing crowd that has supported the athletes all week.

Henrietta Paxton competed in the women’s pole vault but failed to record a height.

It was equally disappointing for James Campbell in the javelin final who could only manage 6th place with a throw of 72.04m.

First on track was Alastair Hay in the final of the 1500m. He finished in 12th place in a time of 3.4461 but was delighted to have made the final and was enthused by his Games experience, ready to build on it for 2014.

Freya Murray and Steph Twell, who won bronze in the 1500m earlier in the week, went head to head in the 5000m. Freya battled the three Kenyans and crossed the line in 4th (16.03.91) while Freya dropped off the pace for a 7th placing (16.26.22).

Last up was the women’s 4X400m relay. Scotland chose a team consisting of Gemma Nicol leading off, Eilidh Child second lap, followed by Kathryn Evans and Lee McConnell bringing up the rear. The atmosphere was electric as the Indian quartet took gold, the Scottish girls finished 6th (3.30.91).

Martin Williams is the final athlete for Scotland still to compete. He will run in Thursday’s marathon which begins at 06.30hrs.

See main news story for more information.

BADMINTON

There was disappointment for Susan Egelstaff tonight when she was beaten by the top seed and world number three Saina Nehwal in the semi finals of the women’s singles. Egelstaff came out fighting and the first game was close in the initial stages until, with the scores level at 8-8, Nehwal stepped up a gear and pulled away to win the game 21-10. The second was close all the way through but Nehwal took it 21-17.

After the match Egelstaff said: “I just gave away too many cheap points tonight. I’m disappointed but it’s good that I’ve got this far and I have another match tomorrow for the bronze medal.

“Tomorrow I have Liz Cann and she’s a different player from Nehwal. I just need to make sure I make her work hard and don’t give her any cheap points.”

Egelstaff will play Cann in the bronze medal play-off in what is a repeat of the play-off match four years ago in Melbourne, which Egelstaff won. It will be the third match of the session which is due to start at 1630hrs local time.

BOXING

There was no action in the ring today as fighters prepare for tomorrow’s gold medal bouts. Josh Taylor is first up for Scotland at 1545hrs against England’s Thomas Stalker for the Lightweight title. Light heavyweight Callum Johnson then faces Thomas McCarthy of Northern Ireland at 1645hrs. Stephen Simmons will collect bronze in the heavyweight medal ceremony at 2100hrs.

GYMNASTICS

Team Scotland’s only rhythmic gymnast, 16 year old Vicky Clow from Glasgow, skilfully composed four routines using the ball, ribbon, hoop and rope where she was ranked 14th overall.

She said, “I’m really pleased with my routines. I had one little glitch when using the hoop; I dropped it doing a spin, but I didn’t let it distract me and just continued. I got a minor for that but all in all I’m happy with how I did.

“I never actually thought I’d get to be part of these Games, as I’d injured myself a couple of times and I didn’t see it happening, so I really appreciate being here. It’s absolutely fantastic. I love being up on the podium and listening to the crowd and this is such an amazing arena; it looked massive when I walked in but once I got started all I focused on was the performance.

“The second round was awesome, I enjoy the ribbon and the ball is my best routine performance-wise, so having them together like that was great for me. I can’t wait until tomorrow now to get out there again in the all round.”

Tomorrow, Clow will compete in the individual rhythmic all round competition at 1400hrs.

LAWN BOWLS

Paul Foster and Claire Johnston had their last day of pool matches in the singles competition today with both aiming to make the semi-final play-offs.

Foster went down to 2-0 to South Africa in his first match then beat India 2-0. Paul won his critical final match against Samoa 2-0, to get him into the next stages of competition.

Claire opened her day with win over Botswana and followed it up with a tie-break win over Norfolk Island to secure her place in the semi-final play-off. She’ll play New Zealand at 9am while Foster takes on Wales.

HOCKEY (M)

The men’s hockey team had failed to get on the score sheet in their four group matches but more than made up for that when they put seven past Trinidad and Tobago this morning to secure 9th position in the competition.

After a nervous start, the team settled when Cameron Fraser opened the scoring with a goal on the break. Ten minutes later Niall Stott scored from a well taken penalty corner to keep them 2-0 ahead until halftime.

T&T didn’t give up and Alistair McGregor was forced to stay focused and make a few saves but Scotland continued to attack on the break and were rewarded for their efforts.

Second half goals from Kenneth Bain (2), Allan Forsyth, William Marshall and Captain Chris Nelson sealed a confidence-boosting win for the team. They had played well throughout the pool stages but had tough opposition in the shape of Australia, Pakistan, India and Malaysia.

Stephen Dick was awarded his 100th cap today and was thrilled it was on a winning match.

He said, “We played really well. After a tough pool week we needed to score. We put in a really good performance, got some good goals and getting my 100th cap today just sealed things off. It’s been a good learning experience for us all and we’ve had a great time.”

RUGBY

Scotland lost out on a semi-final place losing narrowly 10-7 to South Africa, the eventual bronze medal winners.

They picked themselves up and overcame a strong Kenyan side after extra time in the semi-final of the plate (22-17).

The final showdown was against reigning IRB Series Champions Samoa who dominated the match and lifted the plate.

Scotland ends their most successful Commonwealth Games campaign in 6th position. New Zealand, Australia and South African take the gold, silver and bronze respectively.

See match reports for more information.

SHOOTING

There were another two gold medals for the shooters today as Jen McIntosh won the 50m prone singles event, before Neil Stirton and Jon Hammond topped the rankings in the men’s 50m prone pairs competition. See news story for more information.

Elsewhere Drew Christie and Ian Marsden competed in stage one of the skeet singles competition, where they currently sit seventh and 12th respectively. Ian Shaw and Angus McLeod continued in the full-bore competition and now sit 21st and tenth.

It’s the final day of shooting tomorrow with seven athletes in action across the two ranges. Neil Stirton and Jon Hammond both compete in the 50m prone singles, and will be looking to add to their medal tally for the Games. Drew Christie and Ian Marsden complete the skeet singles competition, while Angus McLeod and Ian Shaw finish the full-bore open. Pistol shooter Caroline Brownlie is also in action in the 10m air pistol event.

SQUASH

In the quarter finals of the mixed doubles Lisa Aitken and Harry Leitch went out courtesy of an 11/3 11/3 loss to Australians Donna Urquhart and David Palmer. Leitch was back in action later on in the semi finals of the men’s doubles with Alan Clyne, once again against Australian opponents – Palmer and Stewart Boswell. A match of extraordinary doubles which lasted an hour and 24 minutes saw the Scots go out 11/10 11/6 but they still have a shot at the bronze medal on Wednesday when the face the other beaten semi-finalists, Ryan Cuskelly and Cameron Pilley, in the play-off match at 1315hrs local time.

After the match Leitch said: “They are two of the best players around but we always thought we could cause them some problems and I think we did. They won the crucial points today but we will come back fighting tomorrow – we can’t wait.

“The great thing about being in Team Scotland is that there are 16 sports and we all look after each other so tonight we had some of the hockey team and the tennis team cheering for us and it’s an incredible experience. It really helped us. The support staff have been great too and we want to repay everyone by winning tomorrow.”

Clyne agreed: “We played pretty well and worked as a team. In the first game there was only one point in it and that’s just the way it goes. We were a bit unlucky at the end of that game but I thought we played well. I thought we had the momentum in the first but it just didn’t quite go our way.

“We came here for a medal and we still have that chance. We will definitely be going for it tomorrow.”

Neil Stirton and Jonathan Hammond took bronze in the 50m 3 Position Pairs competition today, in another tense session at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. Adding to the bronze won by Jen McIntosh and Kay Copland in the equivalent women’s event, Neil and Jon became the first Scottish pair to medal in the discipline since 1994.

The women had missed out to India by a single point on Tuesday, and the men were even closer to taking silver. With the scores tied at 2308, Neil and Jon lost out to England by a single inner ten score. India took gold with a score of 2325-106x; a new Games record.

Despite the narrow margins, both shooters were delighted to come away with a medal. “We definitely had opportunities to go a few points better, but it’s still great to get the bronze”, said Jon. “We’ve both been shooting really well and we had high hopes for today, but it’s a great feeling to come away with a medal in my first match at a Commonwealth Games.”

Neil added: “It came down to the wire today. We tied with England and lost out on inner tens so that’s less than 1mm over 240 shots. It’s very close so we’re slightly disappointed not to take the silver, but we’re both delighted to come away with a medal anyway.

“It’s another medal for Team Scotland so hopefully it’ll boost morale within the team and make everyone proud at home.”

Both shooters will face one another in the singles events, starting tomorrow with the 50m 3P, which is an event Jon thinks both are capable of doing well in. “I’ve had a good couple of years and I’ve certainly been shooting pretty consistently in the three positions in the past 12 months”, he said. “Neil has really come on a huge amount too.”

With two medals already in the bag, Hammond has high hopes for the shooting team for the remainder of the competition: “Jen and Kay got off to a great start with a medal in the pairs, and Jen came pretty close in the singles. They have prone coming up and both of those girls are capable of shooting well.”

In the other events on the range today, John MacDonald and Ossie Mclean finished fourth and narrowly missed out on a medal in the trap pairs. Shona Marshall and Linda Pearson finished sixth in the women’s trap pairs, while Alan Ritchie came in 11th in the 10m air pistol.

Scotland’s 7s dreams of a medal suffered a blow in their quarter final this morning as they came agonisingly close to a semi-final place but lost out 7-10 to South Africa.

“We gave it absolutely everything and in the dying seconds we almost turned it into a victory so we’re gutted at the moment,” Andrew Turnbull said.

South Africa took the lead through their captain Paul Delport in the second minute but the Scots held tight in defence and replied with a Mike Adamson try and conversion in the dying seconds of the half to nudge ahead 7-5.

Turnbull continued, “Qualifying yesterday got us into the top group which was great but we’re disappointed not to progress further. We’re now into the plate so we’re out of the medals but want to finish as high as we can.”

South Africa’s second try came from an overlap in attack with Ryno Benjamin crossing the line, but the 2008/2009 IRB Series champions once again missed the conversion which almost proved extremely costly.

Scotland dug deep and with a minute to go, John Houston broke the line and with Scott Riddell in support, the crowd thought the winning score was coming. Houston went for the line, was brought down and South Africa managed to scramble back possession and play out the dying seconds for the win. They’ll now progress to the semi-finals to play Australia.

Coach Stephen Gemmell conveyed the teams’ disappointment saying “I am immensely proud of the boys. They bounced back from yesterday’s defeat to New Zealand and to be one pass away from a semi-final is a great achievement. It was a great team effort. South Africa put us in a position to make a final decision in the last passage of play and we just didn’t get it right.”

He continued, “I don’t think anyone gave us a chance against South Africa going into the game and I can only take my hat off to the guys for their performance. They’ve now got to pick themselves up and go against Kenya to show what they can do.”

The plate semi-final beckons for Scotland against Kenya. Should they come out on top, they’ll face either Wales or Samoa in the plate final to determine 5thposition.

Gemmell will bow out as head coach of Scotland at the end of this campaign and he reflected on his time with the squad: “It’s been a great opportunity to work with these guys and a win would have been a nice way to finish it. But all credit to the boys: they’ve given everything for each other, their country and for me. I can’t ask any more. The plate would only be a consolation but it would be great to take it home.”

Jennifer McIntosh and Kay Copland took gold in the 50m prone pairs event at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, adding to the bronze won in the 50m 3P pairs competition. The Scottish pair pipped England into second place with a score of 1169-60x.

Jen and Kay missed out on silver by a single point last week, and once again their medal colour was determined on the last shot. Jen was one of the first shooters to finish on the range, leaving her the agonising task of watching her partner complete.

Going into the final shot, a ten would draw them level on points with England, but would be enough to give them gold due to their higher inner tens score (60 to 52). Kay said: “It came down to the last few shots between us and England, and if I’d dropped any of my shots then we’d have come in second but thankfully I kept them all in the ten ring.”

“It was nail-biting again for me watching Kay”, said Jen. “I was just thinking oh my god! The result is absolutely fantastic. I can’t really find the right words to describe it. I’m just over the moon.”

Jen’s father and coach, Donald McIntosh spoke of his pride at the pairs achievement. “I’m thrilled to bits with the two of them. Jen shot really well. It was a really controlled performance and I’m really happy with that. Kay had a bit of a tough time with the wind, which was a bit of a surprise because she’s a very experienced and very tough wind shooter. One thing about these Commonwealth Games pairs is that you don’t know what anyone else is doing, and every point matters. She dug in and finished with three tens, which was what she needed to take gold. “

Kay and Jen shoot in their final event tomorrow (12 October) in the singles prone competition, where they will both be vying for another gold. Gold tomorrow would be especially sweet for Jen, whose mother Shirley won the first event at the 1994 Victoria Games. “I’m trying not to think about that too much”, said Jen. “I really want to win it, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Despite collecting two medals so far at the 2010 Games, both girls insist they’ll try to forget about them both during tomorrow’s final match. “For me it’s a totally different match”, said Kay. “I go into every match thinking I can do this and I see every day as a new day.” Jen admitted she could struggle to put the past week behind her but says she needs to if she wants another medal: “I’ll have to try and blank it out of my mind, and try to calm down and focus for tomorrow.”

Donald is hungry for more medals and is busy preparing the pair for tomorrow: “They need to go and get their heads together. Jen is coming off the back of a great score and Kay is coming off the back of what was a relatively poor score for her, so there’s conflicting emotions. Our job is to get them rested, and get their heads in the right place for them to have a crack at it tomorrow.”

Team Scotland’s shooters have now collected medals in five events at the 2010 Games, with two days left of competition.

Team Scotland’s women’s 4x400m relay team cruised into Tuesday’s final despite being without their most decorated member, Lee McConnell.

In the absence of McConnell, who earlier placed fifth in the 200m final, the quartet of Gemma Nicol, Kathryn Evans, Claire Gibson and Eilidh Child placed third, with Child easing up on the home straight, happy that qualification was secure.

“We wanted to give Eilidh as little work as possible,” explained Gibson, “so she could cruise home nice and comfortably, to give her a bit of a rest.”

“They did that perfectly,” said Child, whose 400m hurdles silver medal had come just 24 hours earlier. “I was able to see on the big screen that we were comfortably in third, so I eased in coming in that last fifty metres.”

With McConnell set to be brought in for the final, they are confident there is more to come. “We’ve got the bonus of having Lee to come in,” said Evans, who described the race as “amazing, and the memory of it will live with me forever. Whether I get to run in the final or not, that was an amazing experience. I’ve never heard anything like the noise the crowd made on the back straight.”

McConnell, who cheered the team on from the sidelines, admitted to disappointment at fifth in her second event, the 200m. “I’m quite disappointed,” she said. “I think if I’d run the bend like I did yesterday, I’d have been in a better position on the home straight to be able to put up a better fight and challenge for a medal.

“It’s good running the 200m,” she continued, “but it’s been a long week and I’m not as fresh as those girls. I’m pleased I could be as close to them as I was, considering I’ve run the 400m already, and that this isn’t my main event.

“When I started [the series] I was looking just to get to the final, but once I’d made it to the final I was looking to do better.”

There was a surprise for 1500m runner Alastair Hay, who finished seventh in his heat and all but conceded any chance of making the final. But his race was fast, and Hay, despite stumbling on the third lap, was one of three from his heat to go through as one of the fastest losers.

“There was a bit of a trip and I found myself playing catch up a bit,” he said. “But I should have put myself in a better position at the start. A couple of guys took it out quite quick, and I thought it might come back a bit, but I should have stuck with them a bit more. I’ve had a bit of illness, but it’s not an excuse.

“The atmosphere was electric – it’s much better in there than on the telly.”