Fourteen men contested the 94kg category in weightlifting this afternoon including Scotland’s very own Peter Kirkbride who jumped for joy when he was awarded the silver medal, breaking two records on the way.
An emotional Kirkbride said, “I am ecstatic. It’s a good result, not just for me, but for everyone that’s supported me.”
The reigning British Champion and holder of three Scottish and British records before competition was looking to add a medal to his accolades.
Going into the snatch at 140kg, 5kg heavier than originally intended, Peter shook off his nerves and had a ‘good lift’. 144kg was the next challenge which he lifted comfortably but 146kg in his third attempt was just out of reach.
Kirkbride, who competed four years ago in Melbourne finishing 6th, and claimed gold at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, was lying second going into the Clean & Jerk discipline.
He started with 182kg, moving him into the lead; maintained that with a 186kg second lift and went for 189kg in his final attempt and made it look easy giving him a combined total of 333kg.
He jumped for joy as he left the podium and waited anxiously for the final two opponents to challenge him. But when gold looked all but his, Faauliuli of Samoa, in the last lift of the competition, successfully lifted 192kg to grab the gold by a single kilogram.
Neither athlete or coach weree disappointed and are delighted with the medal. Charles Hamilton, who has coached Kirkbride since the age of 11 held back his tears of joy and said, “Words can’t describe how I am feeling. The boy performed brilliantly and got new British and Scottish records in the Clean & Jerk so there’s not much more we can ask for.”
Kirkbride concluded, “I really have something to be proud of. It’s amazing. I gave it my all.”
Team mate Tommy Yule looks to continue his Commonwealth success tomorrow when he competes in the 105kg at 18.30hrs.
AQUATICS
No Scots were in action today at the SPM Aquatics complex, with Grace Reid not due to compete until Wednesday.
ATHLETICS
Eilidh Child went into the final of the 400m hurdles as second fastest from the heats and ran a fantastic race to clinch the silver medal in a time of 55.62.
Eilidh will join her team mates in the first round of the 4X400m relay tomorrow.
Lee McConnell had an interesting night on the track in the 200m.
She qualified as second fastest for the final, in a season’s best of 23.56. The final was due to run just over two hours later, however a protest was lodged on one of the semi-finals so officials have decided to postpone the final until tomorrow evening to give all parties the chance to counter-protest. McConnell’s bid for a medal must not wait one more day.
Angus McInroy was disappointed with his performance in the discus tonight. He had two no-throws and only managed 49.98m in this third attempt.
Claire Gibson attacked the 800m final with all she had but just lacked that ‘sharpness’ going into the final bend to keep her in the medal hunt. She finished in 5th place in a time of 2.05.03.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, Scotland’s two pole vaulter’s Richard Hurren and Alasdair Strange get their chance to compete along with Alistair Hay in the first round of the men’s 1,500m; the Scottish 4X400m women’s relay team run out in the heats and McConnell will now run her final.
BADMINTON
In the individual events, 2006 Commonwealth bronze medallist Susan Egelstaff successfully negotiated a tricky second round tie against Malaysian Lydia Li Ya Cheah to progress to the last 16 of the women’s singles where she was joined by Kirsty Gilmour courtesy of her win over Mariama Eastmond (Barbados). Kieran Merrilees reached the last 16 in the men’s singles after beating Welshman Martyn Lewis.
Two of Scotland’s mixed doubles pairs – Paul van Rietvelde and Jillie Cooper and Kieran Merrilees and Kirsty Gilmour – exited in the second round but Watson Briggs and Imogen Bankier progressed, beating Canadians Alex Pang and Michelle Li. Wins for Briggs and van Rietvelde in the men’s doubles and for Bankier and Emma Mason in the women’s doubles ensured there is still a strong Scottish presence in the badminton competition.
On Monday the badminton competition resumes with the last 16 matches starting in the morning at 0900hrs local time and the quarter final matches in the evening session at 1800hrs.
BOXING
It was quarter finals day today at the Talkatora stadium with four Scottish fighters taking to the ring. Josh Taylor and Callum Johnson are guaranteed medals after progressing through their bouts. Josh Taylor fought an excellent fight against Kautoa Roddy of Kiribati, coming out the 10-0 victor.
Aston Brown fought well against England’s Callum Smith but lost 4-0 in what was a narrow fight. Callum Johnson was next up against another Englishman, Obed Mbwakongo, with the Scot coming out on top 6-2. Stephen Simmons was last out in the evening session against Canadian Samir El Mais, and won confidently 7-4.
Scotland are now guaranteed three medals, and it’s the semi-finals tomorrow, when the bronze medals will be decided. Josh Taylor fights first against Lomalito Moala of Tongo at 1415hrs, before Callum Johnson faces Jermaine Asare of Wales, at1515hrs. Heavyweight Stephen Simmons will face Northern Ireland’s Steven Ward in the evening session at 1915hrs.
CYCLING
David Millar won Scotland’s first ever Commonwealth Games road cycling medal with bronze at the end of an epic road race in the centre of Delhi.
See main news story for a full update.
HOCKEY (Women’s)
Scotland’s women play off against Wales at 20.00hrs to determine 7th/8thposition in the competition. Scotland played warm-up matches against Wales before departing for Delhi, winning both, so they’ll be hoping for a repeat performance.
LAWN BOWLS
The women’s triples suffered an agonising loss in a tie-break to South Africa to miss out on a medal chance and have to settle for 5th position overall.
The men’s pairs took on Jersey this morning in their play-off and came out on top so they will now play South Africa at 12.30hrs tomorrow in the semi-final. The bronze medal match will be decided at 16.00hrs and the gold/silver match at 19.30hrs.
Meanwhile the singles action continued with Claire Johnston defeating Guernsey in a tie-break this morning. She lost out in her midday match to Malta but got a victory over New Zealand in a tie-break.
Paul Foster continued his winning streak overcoming Malaysia in a tie-break. Both singles players continue in the group stages tomorrow while the men’s triples and women’s pairs final positions have been confirmed as 7th.
RUGBY 7s
Rugby 7s kicks into action tomorrow at Delhi University with each of the 16 teams playing their three pool matches to determine the second day play-offs and medal matches.
Scotland open their campaign against Guayana at 10.06hrs. Canada is the next challenge at 13.12hrs before finishing against reigning Commonwealth Gold medallists New Zealand (17.32hrs).
SHOOTING
Ossie McLean and John MacDonald competed in the second day of the trap singles competition, finishing tenth and 23rd respectively. Ossie was tied on 120 points with four other shooters, but he didn’t manage to make it through the shoot-off to the final. Ian Shaw and Angus McLeod competed in the second stage of the full-bore open, and are currently sitting in 26th and 12th positions respectively.
Drew Christie and Ian Marsden get their Commonwealth campaign off to a start tomorrow with the skeet pairs. Ian Shaw and Angus McLeod continue shooting with the pairs and singles 600yds. Jen McIntosh and Kay Copland will be looking to add to their bronze medal, with another in the 50m prone pairs event.
SQUASH
There was disappointment in the women’s doubles on Sunday when Lisa Aitken and Frania Gillen-Buchert were beaten in the group stages by fourth seeds Jaclyn Hawkes and Joelle King (New Zealand) but in the men’s doubles both Scottish pairs won their matches. Alan Clyne and Harry Leitch beat Yasir Butt and Danish Atlas-Khan (Pakistan) 11/8 11/3 whilst Lyall Paterson and Chris Small beat Hartaj Bains and Hardeep Reel 11/8 11/1. The wins ensured both pairs finish top of their respective groups and they will now progress to the quarter final stage. In the mixed doubles both Scottish pairs won with an 11/7 11/2 victory for Leitch and Aitken and an 11/10 11/5 win for Clyne and Gillen-Buchert.
The remaining group stage matches will be played on Monday. Aitken and Gillen-Buchert play their final group match in the women’s doubles at 1300hrs local time whilst Leitch and Aitken and Clyne and Gillen-Buchert will play their remaining mixed doubles matches at 1500hrs.
TABLE TENNIS
Craig Howieson got a bye into his second match today after his first opponent failed to show. He swung into action against Taucoory of Mauritius beating him 4-0. Howieson, will play Indian Soumyadeep Roy in the next round at 10.45hrs tomorrow.
Stewart Crawford lost his singles match today which ends his run in the competition. Gavin Rumgay has been granted a bye and will go straight into the last 32.
Rumgay will join forces with Howieson to face Jamaica in the doubles at 14.30hrs.
TENNIS
Colin Fleming and Jocelyn Rae won Team Scotland’s third gold medal of the XIX Commonwealth Games today, completing a truly remarkable fightback to beat the Australian top seeds Paul Hanley and Anastasia Rodionova to win the mixed doubles at the R.K. Khanna tennis complex.
A vocal crowd in the Centre Court arena cheered the unseeded Scottish pair to victory as they ousted their opponents 7-6 (9-7) 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 to become the first ever mixed doubles tennis champions in Commonwealth Games competition.
See main news story for more information.
WEIGHTLIFTING
The big man that is Tommy Yule walked out in front of a vocal Scottish crowd today in the 105kg category at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex.
Yule was competing in his fourth Games, his third time representing Scotland, but faced some very strong opposition who out-lifted him on the night and he finished in 6th position.
Tommy claimed the bronze medal in Melbourne and Manchester in the 94kg snatch but with a combined total of 327kg tonight he was unable to repeat the achievement this time around.
Tommy continues the family tradition of Scottish representation at the Games. His mother represented Scotland in shot putt in 1970 Games, his father competed in 1974 Christchurch Games in his brother represented Scotland in 1998 and 2002, both in weightlifting.
WRESTLING
In the final day of wrestling, Sean Keogh (84kg) and Craig McKenna (55kg) competed in the men’s freestyle eliminations. McKenna lost his first fight in the elimination which ended his competition. Keogh won his first match and fought for a bronze medal through the repechage system but was unsuccessful and finished 5th.
Both hockey teams were in action today in their final pool matches with the ladies facing top seeds Australia and the men battling against India.
5-2 was the final score for the women, Scotland’s goals both coming in a much-improved second half but it was not enough to outplay the reigning Commonwealth Champions. Sam Judge scored Scotland’s first and birthday girl, Ailsa Robertson, got the second.
The ‘green and gold’s, who are ranked in the world’s top five, had earlier defeated Trinidad & Tobago and India, but slipped up against South Africa, drawing 1-1 yesterday morning. They didn’t make the same mistake twice and attacked strongly from the start.
Robertson said, “For the first 20 minutes they pressed us very hard, which was probably their game plan, to get the goal early. If we’d started the game like we played in the second half then maybe we could have got some kind of result, even just a draw.”
Targeting a 5th/6th playoff, they will now play for 7th/8th position against Wales on Monday at 20.00hrs.
The men were disappointed to lose out to Malaysia last night but were relishing the chance to play India, here in Delhi, in front of a packed stadium.
Unable to get on the score sheet despite creating a few solid chances, India scored early and kept the momentum, winning 4-0. The noise and vibration around the stadium was electric with Scotland providing some of the cheers as the women’s team amongst others lent their support.
Goal Keeper Alistair McGregor, really enjoyed the atmosphere. He said, “We’ve played teams that are a lot high ranked in the world. We created chances and just haven’t converted them. We had good build-up and preparation coming into the competition and for us, it’s just been tough here and some top opposition. Hopefully we can rest up for a couple of days and win our last match.
“The crowd was amazing. They’re supporters of hockey, not just the Indian team. The better the home side plays, the bigger the crowds will be and that’s what we all want.”
They now playoff for 9th/10th position against Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday at 08.30hrs.
Team Scotland’s squash players got their doubles campaigns off to a sensational start on Saturday with three wins out of three matches in the pool stages of the competition, with two of the wins coming against seeded opposition.
Fifth seeds Alan Clyne and Harry Leitch started the ball rolling in the men’s doubles when they recorded a straightforward 11/2 11/1 win over Malawians James Matewere and Julius Taulo.
Lyall Paterson and Chris Small kept the momentum going when they faced eighth seeded Indian couple Gaurav Nanrajog and Siddharth Suchde in a sensational atmosphere under the glare of the TV cameras on the show court. Paterson and Small won the match 11/8 11/8 in 44 minutes, in the process gaining revenge for defeat by the Indians in the Chennai Open earlier in the year where they lost 11/10 in the deciding game.
But the best was still to come on the show court for the Scots, when Leitch, partnering Lisa Aitken in the mixed doubles, scored his second win of the day. They faced a tough opening tie against the Malaysian third seeds Beng Hee Ong, a player ranked 17 in the world, and Nicol David, who won the gold medal in the women’s singles on Friday. The young Scots showed impressive maturity, standing up to two of the best players in the world and coming away with an 11/9 11/5 win on the show court.
Afterwards, the players were delighted as they looked back on the match. Aitken said:
“Tonight was a pretty big result against some of the best players in the world on such a big stage. We’ve had some good results against some of the English and Aussie pairings before and this ranks up there with the best results we’ve had.
“Going into that game we just had to forget about their reputations and forget about what they have done in the singles events. We went into it pretty positive that we could do what we’ve been rehearsing for the last two years and that’s what we did.”
Leitch agreed: “We played well. We manage to produce what we’ve rehearsed in practice and it’s great to have done that on the show court. We’ve worked really hard to get here and it was great to be able to put our plan into action tonight against two of the best players in the world.
“We went on with real confidence that we had prepared well. We work really well together and we know how to play the game as a team and it paid off for us tonight.
“We have nothing to fear from now on and we’ll just try and keep our momentum going.”
The doubles events will continue on Sunday with all Team Scotland’s players in action throughout the day.
On the final day in the velodrome the Team Scotland cyclists finished close to the medals, with 4th and 5th in the team sprint and men’s scratch race.
For Evan Oliphant, fifth in the scratch race, it was another case of so near and yet so far after his sixth place in the points race. The Thurso rider rode strongly, and made it into a late move that appeared set to decide the medals until it became clear that the powerful Australians had other ideas, and Oliphant’s escape was chased down.
“It’s annoying not to get a medal but it was a really hard race,” said Oliphant. “There was a certain amount of luck involved in terms of what moves you followed, and I was trying to shadow [eventual winner] Cameron Meyer for most of the race. I got away with him at one point and thought: nice one. But it came back, and I didn’t get another chance.”
Oliphant will now look forward to Sunday’s road race. “I’ve had good preparation for the road race having ridden the Tour of Britain a couple of weeks ago. We’ve got six of us in the road race which should give us a few options and hopefully we’ll have a bit more luck there.”
The young team sprint trio of John Paul, Callum Skinner and Chris Pritchard did well to qualify for the bronze medal ride-off, in which they faced a strong Malaysia team. Fourth represented a good performance for a team that is looking towards the Glasgow Games in 2014.
“The whole idea of these Games is that they’re about development and experience,” said 18-year old Skinner. “They could have brought Ross [Edgar] in for the second ride [for bronze] but the whole point of sending us here was for Glasgow, to give us a chance to go out and prove ourselves. There’s a lot of scope to improve on that over the next four years.”
Paul, who at 17 was the youngest member of the team, was disappointed. “I’m not really pleased with my start, though we were happy to qualify.”
Pritchard said: “Anything can happen in ride off. All we had to do was do exactly what we’d done in qualifying and, if Malaysia made a mistake, we were all over it. We improved our time in the second ride, so we can’t really complain.
“I struggled to get on John Paul’s wheel in the first ride – when he’s flying like that, it’s difficult. He was brilliant. Regardless of what he says, for a 17-year old to come here and ride like that – he’ll look back on it one day and realise what he did.”
Team Scotland is guaranteed at least a silver medal in the tennis competition at the XIX Commonwealth Games following tonight’s victory for Colin Fleming and Joss Rae in the semi finals of the mixed doubles.
On a packed number one court at the R.K. Khanna complex, the unseeded Scots, playing together for only the third time, defeated England’s Ross Hutchins and Anna Smith to reach the final and a shot at the gold medal against top seeded Australians Paul Hanley and Anastasia Rodionova.
Fleming and Rae started the match strongly and, with Fleming’s serve all but un-returnable, the Scots took the first set 6-3. But in the second set their form dipped whilst the English pair stepped up a gear to level the match at one set all.
Once again there was a fantastic atmosphere at the R.K. Khanna complex and as the players changed ends before the start of a tense deciding set it was clear who the crowd were backing.
Chants of ‘Scotland, Scotland’ began to ring around the stadium as Fleming orchestrated the crowd and the Scots responded to the support in style, once again finding the form that has seen them reach this stage of the competition.
At 5-4 up the Scots earned their first match points but after a backhand return from Rae went agonisingly wide, missing the line by inches, the English couple levelled the set at 5-5.
But two games later it was all over when the Scots closed the match out 6-3 1-6 7-5 to rapturous applause and a standing ovation.
Afterwards, Fleming reflected on a close match which could have gone either way:
“The crowds here really appreciate good tennis and they showed that tonight. The matches we’ve played have all had great atmospheres and it was great to have the crowd behind us tonight – we really thrived on it.
“I thought everyone played well tonight. It just came down to one or two points at the end and thankfully we managed to just sneak it.
“We’re both really looking forward to the final on Sunday now. We’re ready to go through the emotional rollercoaster again and we’ll try and get gold.”
Rae agreed: “It was touch and go there for a while but we played well. It’s only the third match me and Colin have played together but our game styles compliment each other. Colin’s awesome to play with, he’s really encouraging and he’s an amazing player.
“All four of us played really well and I think we gave the crowd something good to watch. We couldn’t have asked for a better match tonight and the crowd were great with us. It was a fun match to play in and it was another great atmosphere.”
Fleming and Rae will now play Paul Hanley and Anastasia Rodionova on Sunday in the gold medal match.
Steph Twell ran a brave and well judged race to claim Team Scotland’s first athletics medal in the women’s 1500m at the Delhi Commonwealth Games. Remarkably, her success was the first ever Games medal in this event for a Scot, but it was well-deserved after the 21-year old took the initiative and forced the pace in the final 600 metres, just as the fast finishers began to bunch up behind her.
As Twell said afterwards, she ran “with heart and with passion,” hugging the inside of the track in the early stages as she kept her position towards the head of a densely packed group. For much of the race she had three Kenyans – including Olympic 1500m champion Nancy Langat – on her shoulder, and, en masse, they attacked at the bell.
As Langat kicked for home, Nikki Hamblin followed and Twell staged a late charge to battle it out with the New Zealander for silver. In fact, a strong finish almost saw the Scot overhaul Hamblin, but she was more than happy to settle for bronze – her first medal in a major championship.
“I just hung on,” said Twell immediately afterwards. “I took the race by the scruff of the neck and held my presence in lane one.
“Even at 400m to go, with all the Kenyans in front of me, I just thought, ‘Don’t give in now, it’s not the end of the race.’
“I’ve always been known for not finishing as strong, but I’m getting stronger each race and I hit it hard. I think you’ve got to run with your heart and with passion and that’s what I did today.”
Lee McConnell and Chris Baillie, both medallists at the Games in Melbourne in 2006, were also in action in the women’s 400m and men’s 110m hurdles. McConnell, in the outside lane, finished fifth, and admitted she was disappointed not to claim a third consecutive Commonwealth Games medal.
“I didn’t quite get into a quick enough rhythm,” said McConnell. “I was down at 200m and then having to work hard between there and 300 to make up. Then I was working even harder in the home straight, but you can’t let these girls get away and get back in contention.
“I was aware of [Amantle] Montsho [the eventual winner in a Games record] inside me from around 200, which made it difficult as well.”
While acknowledging that this “might well be my last [individual] 400m for Scotland,” McConnell said she would now turn her attention to the relay event, and also the 200m. “I’ll definitely do the 200,” she said. “It’s not my main event, and I have no expectations – I can’t remember the last time I ran it – but it’s an opportunity to run the event in a major championship, so I’d like to do it.”
Baillie, meanwhile, acknowledged that he’d been ill on the eve of his race, though he refused to offer that as an excuse after he placed eighth in his final. “I didn’t come out the blocks too badly, I was just too low at the first hurdle,” said Baillie, who has suffered a catalogue of injuries since 2006 – from a stress fracture of his left foot that put him out for two seasons, followed by back, hamstring and calf problems – and was competing here in his first major event since the Melbourne Games.
“I was a bit off balance, it put me behind, and I was chasing after that,” Baillie continued. “I got tight, tried to fight it, and it just didn’t go right for me. I didn’t run well in the heat, but I could tell myself I made the final.
“I had a touch of the Delhi bellys this afternoon, so that wasn’t ideal. But it happens – I don’t like making excuses.
“I really enjoy being amongst these guys, and I feel I should be able to compete with them. I’ve always said I’d like to run in Glasgow. I’ll be 33 at the time, but I’ll just have to see how it goes and how my body is. If my body can hold up, I’d love to be there.”
The final event of Friday’s athletics programme saw Freya Murray finish a battling fifth in the women’s 10,000m. “I felt great the first half of the race and I made an attempt to cover every move, but towards the end of the race I just didn’t have it,” said Murray. “The conditions were tough, but I was as well prepared as I could be.
“But the atmosphere out there was amazing,” added Murray. “I can’t wait for our turn in Glasgow.”
Hannah Miley crowned a fantastic day for Team Scotland by claiming gold in the 400m IM. Hannah won her favoured event in style with a time of 4:38.83, a new Commonwealth Games Record.
Earlier in the evening session Michael Jamieson took silver in the 200m breaststroke. Michael pushed eventual winner Brenton Rickard all the way, and was touched out to miss gold by 0.08 seconds. The top six swimmers were separated by less than a second, with Kris Gilchrist finishing in fifth.
The final two races of the 2010 games were the men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relays with both teams finishing in fifth place. Earlier, Corrie Scott capped off a great individual week, finishing 12th in the 400m IM heats.
The diving competition gets underway tomorrow, but Scotland’s Grace Reid, won’t compete until Wednesday.
ARCHERY
Tracey McGowan was in action in the individual compound quarter finals. It was an extremely close match, with Tracey leading the way in the first round, but lost by two points in the end. This means that Tracey, the last archer representing Team Scotland, is out of the competition.
ATHLETICS
After Steph Twell got the athletics medal haul started last night, the team are determined to add to the tally and worked hard in their heats today.
Angus McInroy threw in the discus qualifying and has reached the final tomorrow, qualifying in 9th with a throw of 54.30m.
Eilidh Child went through her heat of the 400m hurdles comfortably and qualified as third fastest overall with a time of 56.16. She races for a medal at 18.35hrs tomorrow.
After disappointment in the 400m last night, McConnell celebrated her 32nd birthday running in round one of the 200m. She looked relaxed finishing second in 23.78.
She said, “It was hard, so different to what I normally do – it was nice to finish after 200m and not have to keep going! Hopefully I’ll be able to run a bit quicker tomorrow. It’s been special getting to run in front of that crowd on my birthday.”
The semi final and final of the 200m take place tomorrow night.
Also on the track tonight was Lennie Waite in the 3,000m steeplechase. Finishing 6th in a time of 10.02.12, she was very happy with her performance.
“It was good. I tried to stay calm and patient and as soon as I picked off the first runner I knew I was going to keep rolling. I’ve had a tough few months and didn’t even think I was going to make it here so a great feeling to be here.”
Joining McInroy, Child and McConnell in action tomorrow will be Claire Gibson in round one of the 800m.
BADMINTON
Saturday was a successful day on the badminton court for Team Scotland as the individual events got underway. Kirsty Gilmour and Kieran Merrilees both progressed in the singles events before pairing up to win their opening mixed doubles tie. There were also wins in the mixed doubles for Watson Briggs and Imogen Bankier and Paul van Rietvelde and Jillie Cooper.
On Sunday the Scots are back in action and Susan Egelstaff, who won a bronze medal four years ago in Melbourne, will open her singles campaign in Delhi with a tricky match against Malaysian Lydia Li Ya Cheah.
BOXING
Two fighters proceeded to the quarter-finals of the boxing competition in another exciting night at the Talkatora Stadium. Heavyweight Stephen Simmons was first up against South African Masana Manganyi, with the Scot winning 10-2. Joe Ham was narrowly edged out by Namibian Sakaria Lukas 14-11, before Callum Johnson saw off Krystian Borucki of the Isle of Man 8-1.
It’s a day of quarter finals tomorrow, when lightweight, Josh Taylor faces Kautoa Roddy of Kiribati at 1415hrs, before Aston Brown lines up against England’s Callum Smith at 1500hrs. Light heavyweight Callum Johnson will fight England’s Obed Mbwakongo at 1615hrs before Stephen Simmons takes on Canadian Samir El Mais at 2115hrs.
CYCLING
On Sunday the cyclists take to the streets of Delhi when road races get underway, with Team Scotland’s women competing in the 112 km race and the men going in the 168 km race.
HOCKEY
Scotland’s women will playoff against Wales on Monday at 20:00hrs after going down 5-2 to Australia today.
The men ended the pool stages winless, losing 4-0 to India tonight and face Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday where they’ll be determined to get on the score sheet.
See main news article for more information.
LAWN BOWLS
Final group matches for the pairs and triples competitions took place today with only the women’s triples guaranteed to qualify before play began.
The men’s triples won their final match against Namibia but other results didn’t go their way meaning they narrowly missed out on a qualifying place through sets count-back. They finish in 7th place.
The men’s pairs beat Canada in their first match today and have qualified in third place despite a final match loss to Australia. They face Jersey tomorrow with the winner coming up against South Africa in the semi final.
The women’s triples secured their place in the next stages last night and had a rest day today before they go against South Africa in the semi-final playoff at 9.00hrs tomorrow. The winner will face automatic qualifiers England in the semi-final at 12.30hrs.
The women’s pairs didn’t manage to qualify despite defeating Jersey.
Claire Johnston and Paul Foster kicked off their singles matches today and have three more days of pool competition ahead of them. Foster won comfortably over Guernsey and Canada while Johnston lost to Guernsey then followed up with a victory over India. Johnston plays three matches tomorrow while Foster has just one at 19.30hrs.
SHOOTING
There were two more medals at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range today. First up was Jon Hammond, who added to the bronze medal he won yesterday, with silver in the 50m 3P singles competition. Jon’s pairs partner Neil Stirton shot 1135-42x in the qualification round, narrowly missing out on a spot in the shoot-off. Shona Marshall also took silver in the women’s trap singles event. Shona’s trap, pairs partner, Linda Pearson narrowly missed out on a place in the final with a score of 66.
John Macdonald and Ossie Mclean shot in the first stage of the trap singles, scoring 70 and 73 respectively. Ian Shaw and Angus McLeod got their Commonwealth campaign off and running today, shooting in the singles and pairs 300yds. Angus is currently in 13th position on 83-9v with Ian in 30th on 80-7v.
Tomorrow, Ossie McLean and John MacDonald compete against one another in the trap singles at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. Ian Shaw and Angus McLeod continue shooting and both compete in the singles and pairs 500yds events at the CRPF Campus, Kadarpur.
SQUASH
Scotland’s squash players got their doubles campaigns off to a sensational start on Saturday with three out of three wins in the pool stages. Alan Clyne and Harry Leitch started the ball rolling with a straightforward win over Malawian opposition before Lyall Paterson and Chris Small beat eighth seeded Indians Gaurav Nanrajog and Siddharth Suchde in a sensational atmosphere on the show court. But the best was still to come on the show court for the Scots when Leitch and Lisa Aitken defeated the third seeds Nicol David and Ong Beng Hee in the mixed doubles.
On Saturday the doubles pool matches will continue with all the Scottish players in action.
TABLE TENNIS
Stewart Crawford and Craig Howieson, both got a great result in the opening round of the singles competition each winning 4-0. Tomorrow they will both contest the second round in the singles, with Stewart playing at 1050hrs, and Craig at 1010hrs local time.
TENNIS
After their nailbiting mixed doubles semi final last night, Colin Fleming and Joss Rae had a rest day today. On Sunday they have a shot at the gold medal when they face top seeds Paul Hanley and Anastasia Rodionova in the final of the mixed doubles at 1700hrs local time.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Peter Kirkbride scooped silver in the 94kg category tonight and set new British and Scottish records in the clean & jerk along the way.
Tommy Yule looks to continue his Games success tomorrow in the 105kg at 18.000hrs.
See main news piece for more information.
WRESTLING
It was another day of disappointment for Team Scotland’s wrestlers. Viorel Etko (60kg) put up a tough fight in the eliminations, but just missed out on going straight through to the semi-finals. Later he failed to make it through the repechage system.
Tomorrow is the last day of wrestling at the Games, which will see Sean Keogh (84kg) and Craig McKenna (55kg) compete in the men’s freestyle eliminations, starting at 0900hrs local time. If successful they will go through to the finals to compete for a medal at 1630hrs local time.
The men’s and women’s triples and pairs teams are all still in the hunt for a top three placing in their sections with two more days of pool competition still to go.
The men’s pairs have now won seven, lost one after victories over Swaziland and the Cook Islands today. The pairing of Darren Burnett and Neil Spears feel in good form and confident this can continue.
Spears said, “We had a loss on Tuesday afternoon but two wins again yesterday so we’re in a good position.”
Burnett, who competed in the singles competition in both Melbourne and Manchester, talked about the competition so far and how they’re coping with the conditions:
“There have been a few shock results and we’ve been on the end of one of them but that’s the way it goes. We may not be doing the most energetic sport at the Games but there is a mental toughness required and we can be out there for two to two and a half hours each match and there are 11 matches for us to get through. Being out here in April has helped us prepare for the heat and we’re coping well.”
Men’s Team Leader George Sneddon said, “I consider Darren to be one of the best players around at the moment and he’s playing well with Neil so I am hoping they continue to perform. It is tough for our team getting time to gel and train together. It’s a bit like a relay team in athletics when good individual athletes come together and form a team with not a lot of preparation.”
The men’s triples were lying in sixth position before two tough matches against New Zealand and Australia today. They lost out to the Kiwis but ended on a high with a dramatic sudden-death play-off win over Australia.
Discussing why he thinks Scotland are a strong nation in bowls, Sneddon added, “Scotland, like the other home nations, have the advantage on playing on a variety of surfaces all year round when we move from outdoor to indoor and even the grasses differ in the outdoor so we are good at adapting our game.”
In the women’s section, the triples played Jersey and won 2-0. It’s proving to be a difficult pool with everyone beating each other so they must go for the victories in their two final group matches tomorrow.
Lynn Stein, playing alongside Lorraine Malloy and Michelle Cooper in the triples, is playing in her first Games and they are currently standing amongst the top teams in their pool. She said, “Tomorrow we have Niue and Northern Ireland. If we win both of those then we have a good chance of qualifying. We could have played better in a couple of games but we’re going ok.”
The women’s pairs stepped out against Papua New Guinea and Niue winning both in straights sets. The top team in each section automatically qualifies for the semis with the second and third playing in an open draw for the final spots.
The pool matches continue tomorrow and the singles competitors namely Paul Foster and Claire Johnston have one more day of practice before they begin on Saturday.
A few of Scotland’s athletics team paraded in the spectacular Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for the opening ceremony on Sunday night, but it was Lee McConnell that was the first to compete in the venue tonight in round one of the 400m.
Winning her heat comfortably from lane eight in a time of 53.24, McConnell is glad to get the opening round out the way. She said, “The heats are always the most nerve-wracking, not knowing what to do. You don’t want to go out too hard and waste energy so I managed to do ok.”
Asked about any fears she may have about the condition of the venue she confidently replied, “There has been so much negative stuff in the press but it’s all been fine, they’ve pulled it together and it looks good.”
Back at the Village, the squad are all now settled into their daily training regimes and enjoying the Games experience.
Chris Baillie starts his competition on Friday in the 110m hurdles in what will be his third Games. He set a new Scottish record in Melbourne when he took silver and if everything goes to plan, he is pushing to be amongst the top performers once again.
The 29 year old said, “You always want to medal but I’ve had a hard season with a few injuries. I feel as though I keep making comebacks so actually the lateness of the competition is helping me slightly. All my training is going well and if I go into the race and concentrate on the right things then I’ve got a chance. It’s now down to me to make it happen and take that chance. All I can do is my best and if it works then I can’t complain.”
Another of Scotland’s track athletes is 23 year old Eilidh Child who will contest for a medal in the 400m hurdles and the 4x400m relay.
She said, “My preparations have gone really well, I am just ticking over now with easy training and I start with my heat on Saturday morning. My last race was eight weeks ago and then I started to build into training again. I got a Scottish hurdler Mark Lipton to run some hurdles with me which was great too.”
Tipped for a top spot in the event which she represented Great Britain at the recent European Championships in Barcelona, Child assessed the opposition:
“My main opponents are from Jamaica and Nigeria who run around 54seconds and an Australian girl that runs around 55.2seconds so I expect the four of us to be really fighting for it. If I run to form and PB then I will be happy. The stadium looks really spectacular. So hopefully if it is full and we get a good crowd it will be amazing. The crowd definitely makes a big difference.”
Tomorrow sees the start of the decathlon for Roger Skedd while Steph Twell runs in round one of the 1500m. Friday will see the first finals for Scottish hopefuls and the fans will hoping to be support Baillie, McConnel and Twell on the track in their respective event finals along with Mark Dry and Andy Frost in the hammer before the day wraps up with Freya Murray in the 10,000m final.
Child emphasised the importance and honour of competing for Scotland at the Games. “This is the only major event that you can run for Scotland so that is really special for us. The Scottish team get on really well so it is nice for us to have our little intimate team where we all work together.”
Baillie agreed saying, “We’re really gelling well and everyone has settled down and having lots of laughs.
“Getting to come to such a big stage and compete for Scotland is special and it brings the best out of you. Putting on a Scottish vest and having the support of the entire Team Scotland behind you and getting the atmosphere from the other sports is really amazing. When you see them start to win medals, it gives you that added boost.”
The team are set for an exciting week of competition and there are several Scots to follow closely over the coming days who are gunning for a place on the podium in Delhi.