Alex Marshall made history on day nine of the Gold Coast Games, by winning gold in the Lawn Bowls Men’s Fours competition; taking his all-time Commonwealth Games total to six medals (5 gold, 1 silver). The medal makes him Scotland’s most successful athlete in the history of the Commonwealth Games; overtaking Allan Wells.
Another history maker today was Grace Reid, who became Scotland’s first ever female medalist in Diving; and the first winner of a gold medal in the sport for 60 years as she won the 1m Springboard competition. After winning bronze yesterday, Seonaid McIntosh was back in action in the Women’s 3P event at the Belmont Shooting Centre, once again taking the bronze medal.
Boxing duo Reece McFadden and John Docherty lost out in their respective semi-finals and will take home bronze medals from Australia. It’s a bittersweet result for both fighters, who had their eyes on gold; but the results mean Boxing continues its record as being the only sport to have brought home medals for Scotland from every Games since its inception in 1930.
The results see Scotland end the day on 41 medals (9 gold, 13 silver, 19 bronze); sitting seventh in the medal table.
For detailed reports see the individual sport features for Lawn Bowls, Diving, Shooting and Boxing.
Athletics
Holly McArthur acquitted herself superbly on her senior international debut, with the 18-year-old securing a fine top 10 position in the Women’s Heptathlon. After an opening day that saw the youngster set High Jump and Shot Put personal bests, she returned to the Carrara Stadium to produce good performances in the Long Jump, and Javelin before winning heat one of the 800m in 2.13.04, just outside her personal best.
Finishing 10th with a points total of 5381, just 300 short of her personal best, McArthur can be proud of her Commonwealth Games debut and was happy with her performance despite admitting to being tired towards the end.
“I’m happy that I got such a solid finish – it was good to round it off on a high note – it’s been so much fun. I didn’t expect the crowd to be as loud as they were, and I think they really helped my performances. I had a few highs and lows but overall I feel like my first Commonwealth Games has gone well – it’s such a valuable experience and I have no regrets.”
Back in action after an impressive fourth place in the 800m last night, Jake Wightman safely advanced to the Men’s 1500m final tomorrow afternoon where he’ll once again go for silverware. Running in the second of two heats this morning, Wightman ran a flawless race to comfortably finish third, ensuring he advanced automatically.
Chris O’Hare ran in the first heat, just missing out on a top four spot in fifth but progressing thanks to his 3.44.76 time. Both men will rest up ahead of the final at 16.10hrs (07:10hrs UK time) on Saturday.
Also in action on the final day of the track and field programme are Eilish McColgan and Steph Twell in the Women’s 5000m Final at 15:20hrs (06:20hrs UK time), Nikki Manson in the Women’s High Jump Final at 14:25hrs (05:25hrs UK time) and the Women’s 4x400m relay team at 16.38hrs (07:38hrs UK time).
Badminton
Kirsty Gilmour advanced to the Women’s Singles semi-finals, albeit in unfortunate circumstances as her opponent Ruthvika Gadde of India was forced to retire injured. Gilmour was back on court just hours after beating English number one Chloe Birch late last night and was in control when her opponent suffered a back injury, which ended the tie.
A frustrated Gilmour commented post-match: “I came off court relatively late last night and I didn’t get to sleep until about 3am. To then get up this morning and do all your preparation as if this is going to be the toughest match of your life and then for something so unfortunate to happen is frustrating. I really can’t complain but I hope Ruthvika is ok.
“I’ll go away and do a bit of training to iron out a few things I wanted to work on in the match, and then try and come down again and prepare for tomorrow.”
Gilmour returns to the court against India’s Saina Nehwal; with the session starting at 11:00hrs (02:00hrs UK time).
It was however the end of the road for young Men’s Doubles pairing Adam Hall and Alex Dunn, as they bowed out to number one seeds and Olympic silver medallists V Shem Goh and Wee Kiong Tan of Malaysia. After losing the first game 21-9, the Scottish pair started poorly in the second, but rallied from 6-0 down to run their opposition close at 21-17.
Afterwards Hall commented: “We expected a bit better from ourselves and in the first game and a half we didn’t play very well; they gave us no opportunity to get started.”
However, Dunn was keen to highlight the positives towards the end of the match, adding: “We did quite well, getting into the game a bit more and we started to step up the court and control some of the rallies – it was just a case of too little too late. It’s been an amazing experience though and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s not every day you get to play against these top players, but we really need to take what we can from it.”
Cycling
Team Scotland will enter eight athletes in tomorrow’s Road Race at the Currumbin Beach Front; the last contest for the ten-medal-winning team in the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. It’s a sharp start for the women’s riders who take off at 07:45 hrs (22:45 hrs UK time), with Katie Archibald, Neah Evans, Louise Haston, Eileen Roe and Isla Short all competing in the 112km, six-lap race.
The men follow at 12:30 hrs (03:30hrs UK time) with Grant Ferguson, Kyle Gordon and Mark Stewart lining up in the 168km nine-lap event, with John Archibald unable to recover sufficiently to take part, following his crash in the Time Trial event.
Hockey
Team Scotland’s men finished their competition in sixth place today following a 2-1 loss in their classification game against Malaysia. Alan Forsyth took the lead for Team Scotland when he scored on 10 minutes; but Malaysia didn’t take long to equalise on 20 minutes, and then sneaked ahead in the second half with another goal at 38 minutes.
Sixth place represents Scotland’s best ever finish in Men’s Hockey and speaking after the match, captain Chris Grassick said: “Overall we are delighted with the result – although I’m obviously a bit gutted we didn’t get more out of our last game. Malaysia are 12th in the world rankings and we’re 23rd so it was always going to be tough. We’ve played some unbelievable hockey since we got here, and we definitely deserve that sixth-place finish.”
Rugby Sevens
The Team Scotland Rugby Sevens squad kick-off their Gold Coast Games campaign at Robina Stadium tomorrow, where they will face Papua New Guinea at 11:43hrs (02:43 hrs UK time), Malaysia (09:15 hrs UK time) and South Africa (13:17 hrs UK time) in Pool A. Only the top-ranked team from the group advance to the semi-finals on day two (Sunday 14 April) for a chance to take home a medal.
Scotland 7s Head Coach, John Dalziel, added: “To represent Team Scotland in a Commonwealth Games is a huge honour for everyone involved and I’d like to thank Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby for their continued support, ensuring we have assembled our country’s leading sevens exponents.”
Squash
Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban faced a tough match against Malaysian duo Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Eain Yow Ng. After losing a narrow first game 11-9, the Scots rallied to take the next two 11-6 and 11-5 respectively; winning the match 2-1. They will face Australian duo Zac Alexander and David Palmer tomorrow at 13:00hrs (04:00hrs UK time) for a place in the gold-medal match. It will be a repeat of the 2016 World Championships final, which the Scottish pair won 2-0.
After the match Alan said: “It wasn’t in the plan to lose the first game, but they played well. They came back strong, playing some good points. In a best-of-three and being one down you can’t afford to make any mistakes. We played some great squash after that.
Looking ahead to the semi-final, Greg added: “It was nice to be on the glass today. It’s completely different to the back courts so great to get that experience today, and I think we’ll improve tomorrow.”
Wrestling
Joe Hendry was the final Team Scotland wrestler in action as he took to the mat in the Men’s Freestyle 97kg category. Hendry was more than a match for crowd favourite Nicolaas Verreynne of Australia but trailed 2-0 at the halfway mark. With neither man able to find a winning move, Hendry threw caution to the wind in the closing 30 seconds, which ultimately cost him defeat by fall.
Afterwards he reflected: “It’s devastating – it’s a long way to come and it sucks. I think the start threw me off a little bit but it wasn’t to be today and I guess my lack of experience got the better of me. My strategy going in was a top-heavy game but he was obviously strong in that area and so I probably should have come in armed with more leg attacks.”
Seonaid McIntosh won Scotland’s fifth shooting medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games today, with bronze in the Women’s 50m Rifle Prone at Belmont Shooting Centre. The Edinburgh-based shooter, competing in her second Games finished third with a score of 618.1.
Seonaid, or ‘Mini-Mac’ as she is known on the range, has now followed in the footsteps of her mum Shirley and sister Jen by winning a Commonwealth Games medal in Shooting. Afterwards she admitted it had been something she’d thought about before the Games.
After the medal ceremony Seonaid said: “It’s pretty cool; I’m actually on the table now in terms of family medals. Before I got to Australia I was thinking about it a bit.”
Averaging just over 103 per string, McIntosh shot consistently throughout the six-string competition to finish comfortably in the bronze medal position. She had already featured in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle earlier in the week and she was clear on what was needed to do this time round.
Seonaid added: “I’d thought in my head before I came in here that I needed to average about 103 per string based on what the boys had shot the other day, but the wind was a bit weirder today. It wasn’t as strong as it looked, and I started at around 102 so I didn’t think I’d be anywhere close to the top.
“I started, and in my first three strings I think I was shading too much and some of them went a bit further out; I had a lot of loose shots. And then in my fourth string I just shot straight and it was my best string – I was like OK; the wind isn’t as strong as it looks.
Seonaid will compete again tomorrow in the Women’s 3 Positions event, from 08:30hrs (23:30hrs UK time). Looking ahead to tomorrow she said: “I’m excited for it; it’s my best event so hopefully more good things!”
In day two of the Queen’s Prize Individual, Pairs bronze medallists Ian Shaw and Sandy Walker again shot well, staying well in contention ahead of the third and final day on Saturday. Sandy is sitting in 14th, just three back from the leader, while Ian is one back in 5th place.
Jennifer McIntosh, who finished eighth in the Prone event today will also compete in the 3P tomorrow; while Sharon Niven will line up in the Women’s Trap from 09:00hrs (00:00hrs UK time).
Opening Ceremony flag bearer Eilidh Doyle got her chance to parade around the Carrara Stadium with a saltire once again tonight, after picking up her third consecutive Commonwealth Games 400m Hurdles silver medal.
Having handled the pressure of a home Games to deliver silver four years ago, Doyle faced the toughest Commonwealth field of her career, featuring a number of Olympic and World finalists. To the fore coming into the home straight was Janieve Russell and she duly took gold, with Doyle finishing well for second.
The epitome of consistency, Doyle ran a typically measured race, coming off the bend in third before powering home over the final two hurdles to secure a third straight silver in 54.80.
Afterwards the proud Scot said: “I am thrilled to be on the podium for the third time at my third Commonwealth Games. It was definitely the strongest field I have faced in the Commonwealths in terms of the quality of athletes and I was a bit anxious, but I just had to tell myself on the start-line to stay focused and not think about anything other than executing my race-plan.
“I’ve been lucky to win a number of medals in my career and they mean a lot to me – I will treasure them for the rest of my life. There won’t be too much celebrating of this one at the moment though, because we have the 4 x 400m Relay still to come. We will go back to the Village, enjoy it and reflect on it, and then on Friday I will turn my thoughts to coming back to this stadium. The atmosphere was great and I could hear so many Scottish voices.”
It was a case of so close yet so far for middle-distance man Jake Wightman who finished an agonising fourth in the Men’s 800m Final, just outside his personal best with a 1.45.82 run. After looking good in qualifying, Wightman knew he could be in the mix for the medals if he ran the right race, and that was exactly how it played out.
Sitting off the fast early pace Wightman picked up down the back-straight on the final lap, putting himself in the perfect position to contest for silverware down the home-straight. Passing pre-race favourite Nijel Amos with 60m to go, for a split second Wightman thought he done it, but was pipped in the final 20m by charging Australian Luke Matthews to end up in the worst position of all.
“It’s pretty gutting. I thought I’d timed it perfectly for a medal and I don’t think I did a lot wrong – you never come into a champs wanting to finish fourth. The positives I can take from it though will be that it’ll set me up well for the 1500m, but I knew there was an opportunity to win a medal there, so to have it slip in the way in last 20 metres is a horrible, horrible feeling.”
Holly McArthur made her Commonwealth Games debut in the Women’s Heptathlon, the 18-year-old setting personal bests in two of the four events on the opening day. Kicking things off with a very solid 14.17 run in the 100m Hurdles, McArthur then set a 5cm High Jump personal best with a brilliant 1.69m clearance, before producing another lifetime best of 11.58m in the Shot Put. After her monumental efforts the youngster from Kilsyth was understandably tired in the 200m, fading slightly in the final 50m but still running a strong 25.50 time to leave her on 3270 points overnight in tenth.
There was however huge disappointment for Lynsey Sharp, the Glasgow 2014 silver medallist failing to advance to the Women’s 800m final after finishing fourth in the third and final heat. In a good position all the way, Sharp didn’t quite have the finishing speed needed to bag a top two position and a place in the final, crossing the line in 2.01.33.
Post-race she commented: “I executed my race as was my plan and it just wasn’t good enough today. Some days you just don’t have enough to get it done and this was one of those days. Competition in the 800 is fierce and I faced many great competitors today. Training has been going really well but I have a few more things to work on to put it all together.”
Tomorrow will see McArthur back in action for day two on the Women’s Heptathlon, with Wightman and Chris O’Hare going in the Men’s 1500m Heats at 11:35hrs (02:35hrs UK time).
In what has already been a record-breaking Games for Team Scotland, the Women’s Triples Lawn Bowlers have added to the history books by becoming the first Scottish Women’s Triples team to collect silverware at a Commonwealth Games after competing in the final against Australia. It is also the first medal for women’s bowls since 2006, when Triples lead, Kay Moran won silver in the Women’s Pairs with the late Joyce Lindores.
Following a tough game which saw some challenging playing conditions, Caroline Brown, Stacey McDougall and Kay Moran were beaten 21-12 by the home nation meaning they collected the silver medal at tonight’s presentation.
Their success comes just days after Darren Burnett, Ronnie Duncan and Derek Oliver were also the first Men’s Triples team to collect a medal for the same event.
Speaking after the medal ceremony, Caroline said: “It’s great to get another medal up on the board for Team Scotland, and to contribute to our largest overseas Games medal haul. We’ve had so much support both here and back at home and that’s been amazing.
“We knew right from the trial ends that the conditions were going to be challenging, so getting a silver medal is just brilliant.
Stacey added: “It means everything to me. This is my first Commonwealth Games so I’m completely over the moon and delighted to be holding a silver medal.
“The crowd were so supportive, both for us and for Australia. We had a lot of support here with us to counter the masses of Aussie fans, and that definitely helped. We played an excellent game – the best we possibly could have done – and I’m really proud of how we performed.
Kay, who is now a resident of New South Wales but still proudly plays for Scotland, said: “The final was a really tough game. The greens were slightly quicker than they’ve been over the past week so it took us a bit of time to adjust to that – but the conditions really were beautiful and we’re so proud of how we played. We did our best and couldn’t possibly ask for more.”
Team Scotland’s women led the way on day eight of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games with three medals; taking the total to 35 (7 gold, 13 silver, 15 bronze).
Flagbearer Eilidh Doyle, repeated her silver medal success of Glasgow 2014, with a superb run in the Women’s 400m Hurdles Final; finishing second in 54.80. Having led Team Scotland into the Carrara Stadium eight days ago, Eilidh returned to claim another medal in what is already proving to be a successful season.
At the Broadbeach Bowls Club, the Women’s Triples claimed a silver medal after a hard-fought match against Australia. Earlier in the day, Seonaid McIntosh followed in the footsteps of her mother Shirley, and sister Jen by winning Shooting bronze in the Women’s 50m Rifle Prone.
Elsewhere, Team Scotland’s Netballers repeated their ninth-place finish from Glasgow 2014 with a 50-48 win over Barbados in overtime, while Kirsty Gilmour progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women’s Singles Badminton competition with a confident 2-0 victory over the English number one, Chloe Birch.
For detailed reports see the individual sport features for Athletics, Lawn Bowls and Shooting.
Badminton
Scotland’s number one, Kirsty Gilmour faced her English counterpart, Chloe Birch today in the Women’s Singles Round of 16. The first game was tight from start to finish, with Kirsty prevailing 22-20. Her experience and class told in the second game as she ran out 21-12 winner to take the match 2-0.
Afterwards Kirsty said: “I was really up for that. I wanted to hit the ground running, be sharp but also work out a few kinks. It was a really good challenge; Chloe is such a fighter and she never gives you an easy match, so I really had to take it to her and I worked out my game plan well.
In the Women’s Doubles, Julie McPherson and Eleanor O’Donnell faced the tough English pair Lauren Smith and Sarah Walker. The Scots made their opponents work hard throughout the match, but couldn’t find a way past them, eventually losing out 2-0.
Alex Dunn and Adam Hall progress to the Men’s Doubles quarter-finals after a convincing 2-0 win over Barbados. In the other Men’s Doubles match, Martin Campbell and Patrick McHugh faced the Canadian pair of Jason Ho-Shue and Nyl Yakura. The Canadians took the first game, and despite a spirited fightback from the Scots in the second, they went on to win the match 2-0. In the Mixed Doubles, Alex Dunn and Eleanor O’Donnell’s campaign was brought to an end by the eighth seeded Malaysian pair.
Tomorrow, Kirsty returns in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Singles against Ruthvikka Gadde of India in the morning session, which starts at 11:00hrs (02:00hrs UK time). Later in the session, Alex Dunn and Adam Hall face Malaysian duo Shem V Goh and Wee Kiong Tan.
Boxing
Two Team Scotland Boxers take to the ring tomorrow for a place in the gold medal bouts. Reece McFadden faces Brendan Irvine of Northern Ireland at 13:47hrs (04:47hrs UK time); before John Docherty takes on Cameroon’s Dieudonne Wilfred Seyi Ntsengue at 20:47hrs (11:47hrs UK time).
Cycling – Mountain Bike Cross Country
In the Women’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country, Team Scotland’s Isla Short shone beyond her 60th place (UCI) and pre-race ranking of eighth, to finish fifth in a competitive field in her first Commonwealth Games. The 21-year-old from Peebles crossed the line +3:32 behind race-winning top seed and world number five, Annie Last (ENG), completing the six-lap, 27.6km course in 1:21:34.
Grant Ferguson (ranked 39th in the world) followed Short in the Men’s gruelling 32.2km course but was unable to improve on his fifth-place finish at Glasgow 2014, coming in ninth, +4:53 behind 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medal-winning New Zealander, Samuel Gaze, who finished superbly to take gold.
Diving
The Diving competition of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games continued at the Optus Aquatics Centre this evening with James Heatly and Gemma McArthur in action in the finals of the 3m springboard and 10m platform respectively.
Heatly fought hard to land all his dives and after a superb Reverse 1½ Somersaults 3½ Twists Pike, which scored him 87.50 points, the 20-year old from Edinburgh moved up to the bronze medal position.
Finishing his programme with the Forward 2½ Somersaults 2 Twists Pike, Heatly didn’t quite land it as well as in the previous round but finished an admirable fifth with 420.30 points, just shy of his PB.
After the final Heatly said: “I had to really fight to get through to the final of this event. I didn’t get much sleep last night and I did struggle this morning in the prelim. After two rounds I wasn’t even in the top twelve. So, with that in mind, I don’t consider coming fifth a loss, I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve done.
“My priority is to now focus on tomorrow’s 10m synchro event. Lucas used yesterday’s 1m to get his competition started and get rid of any nerves. He did really well and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do here.
Gemma McArthur completed her competition finishing 12th for the 10m Platform. Starting confidently with the Back 2½ Somersaults 1½ Twists Pike, McArthur faltered in the last two rounds and ended with 263.05 points, well below her best. Afterwards she said,
“It’s such a shame I missed a few dives but overall I’m pretty pleased at how I held my nerves throughout the competition. It’s been amazing to dive in amongst world class athletes and I’m going to try my best to improve in training, become more consistent and develop those harder dives so I can compete with the girls at the top.”
Olympic finalist and World Championships silver medalist, Grace Reid, begins her Commonwealth Games programme tomorrow, starting with the 1m springboard. Diving prelims start at 10:01hrs (01:01hrs UK time); finals start at 19:01hrs (10:01hrs UK time).
Hockey
Team Scotland’s Women Hockey finished their competition in seventh place today following a 4-2 win in their classification game against Malaysia.
Thanks to three goals in the first half from Millie Brown and Amy Brodie (two), the women went into the second half in a strong and confident position. Despite a green card for Sarah Robertson at 39 minutes, and yellow cards for Alison Howie at 48 minutes and Amy Brodie at 58 minutes, Lucy Lanigan added one more goal to the total before full time.
Speaking after the game, double goal scorer Amy Brodie said: “We wanted to finish as high as we could and go out with a win. Being honest, seventh or eighth isn’t where we wanted to be but we’re happy to finish on a high.
“We showed great character today. We had to fight for that win and I’m proud of how we performed. Throughout the tournament we’ve played high-quality hockey – it’s amazing for us to come out here and have the chance to play against these world-class teams.”
Team Scotland’s men will face Malaysia tomorrow in the battle for a fifth-place finish. The action will start at 16:15hrs (07:14hrs UK time).
Netball
Team Scotland’s Netballers equalled their ninth-place finish at Glasgow 2014 with a 50-48 win over Barbados on Australia’s Gold Coast. In a topsy-turvy match, Lynsey Gallagher continued to keep the Scots within touching distance down the stretch and as time expired Gallagher scored to tie the game at 39-39, forcing overtime.
Talking after the match, the sharp-shooter said: “There was a little bit of a flash back to that Malawi game, but I was just like, breathe, set your shot, you do this all of the time in training so just sink it and then the girls did the rest really.”
Squash
Lisa Aitken and Kevin Moran faced Jenny Duncalf and Adrian Waller in their Round of 16 match. The English pair had the best of the first game, eventually taking the match 2-0. Men’s Doubles pair Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban continued their fine form, with a 2-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago pair Patrick Mandela and Kale Wilson. They’ll now face Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Yow Eain NG of Malaysia tomorrow at 21:00 (12:00hrs UK time) on the Show Court for a place in the semi-finals.
After their match today, Greg said: “It’s all gone to plan, keen to get onto the show court soon. We knew that if we played our game we would be okay. We don’t take any opponent lightly. We had to make sure we were doing the right things, like playing the right shots at the right time and I thought we did well.”
Table Tennis
Gavin Rumgay faced a tough match against England’s Liam Pitchford at Oxenford Studios. After taking one game each at the start of the match, Liam pressed on taking the next three unanswered to win 4-1. In the Men’s Doubles, Rumgay and Craig Howieson faced English pair David McBeath and Samuel Walker. The Scots duo pushed each game to the end but lost out 3-0 to the experienced English pair.
Reflecting on the matches, Gavin said: “My performance was okay. All week I’ve battled with the conditions, none of the pro tours have any humidity at all. Meaning that when you try to play your aggressive way, you can’t, which makes it a very different style of game.”
Wrestling
Team Scotland’s Wrestlers opened their Gold Coast campaign on Thursday morning at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre, with Ross Connolly and Viorel Etko contesting the 57kg weight category and Alex Gladkov in action in the 74kg event.
With all three wrestlers given extremely tough draws it was always going to prove an uphill battle to get on the podium, as Etko and Gladkov did in Glasgow, the trio all bowing out in their opening bout. Unfortunately for Etko his Nigerian opponent, who was tipped for gold, lost out in the semi-final after a poor tactical showing when clearly in front, costing the Scot a place in the Repechage and a chance to repeat his bronze medal feat.
Coming towards the twilight of his career Etko was very composed post event, saying: “Of course, it wasn’t the result I wanted but I gave it my all and sometimes it’s out of your control. We wrestle athletes who are in the best shape of their lives and sport can be cruel. We’ll be 100% behind Joe now tomorrow – we’ll make as much noise as we can and hopefully he’ll have the best tournament of his life.
Joe Hendry goes in the Men’s Freestyle 97kg category from 10.30hrs (01:30hrs UK time) on Friday.
18-year-old Maria Lyle won Team Scotland’s second Athletics medal of the Games and first on the track, with a splendid silver in the Women’s T35 100m on Wednesday night.
On a day where Team Scotland set a new record of number of medals won at an overseas Commonwealth Games with the tally for Gold Coast 2018 reaching 30 medals, Lyle flew down the track in front of a full house at the Carrara Stadium to win the team’s 32nd and final medal of the day.
Lyle was drawn on the inside in lane two, allowing her to run her own race to secure silver well clear of all of her rivals, bar home favourite and world record holder, Isis Holt, who bagged gold for the hosts.
Already double Paralympic and World bronze medallist over 100m and 200m, the teenager from Dunbar went one better in front of a partisan crowd, crossing the line in 15.14 in her first outing over 100m this year.
Of her performance Lyle said: “I’m really pleased to win the silver albeit a little bit disappointed with the time, but it’s my first Commonwealth Games and to experience a crowd like that was incredible. I don’t get many opportunities to wear the Scotland vest so I’m really pleased to win a medal for Scotland.
“My mum was out there and I saw so many Scotland flags – the support was amazing. It’s a beautiful medal and it’s a really nice reward for all the hard work and sacrifices you put in to get to this point. It’s not often you get to stand on the podium and see the saltire flying so just to have that opportunity to race for your country and win a medal is very special.”
Allan Smith performed when it mattered in the men’s high jump final but ultimately had to settle for a fifth place finish in a quality field.
Competing alongside namesake David Smith, Allan put himself under pressure with two failures at 2.21m, but went clear at the third time of asking to keep himself in contention. Next came a 2.24m season’s best, followed by a second time clearance at another season’s best 2.27m, but in the end 2.30m was one height too far.
That performance was Smith’s best ever at a major championships and he was proud of his performance, saying: “Coming fifth and being just one bar short of a medal – and I came close at 2.30m – is a positive result. I enjoyed myself out there and just did the best I could. There was huge home support today and loads of Scots out there. If you know the crowd is behind you, you can use it, which I did towards the end of the competition.”
Allan’s teammate David ultimately finished down in 10th place with a best of 2.18m.
In the women’s 3000m steeplechase Lennie Waite couldn’t live with the fast pace set by Celliphine Chespol of Kenya, finishing tenth in 10.21.72.
Tomorrow will see Team Scotland flagbearer Eilidh Doyle go for her third consecutive medal in the Women’s 400mH Final at 19.30hrs (10:30hrs UK time), whilst Jake Wightman will contest the Men’s 800m Final at 22.13hrs (13:13hrs UK time).
It was a very emotional night for athlete James Heatly as he became the first Scottish diver in 60 years to win a Commonwealth Games medal – with the last diver to have done this being none other than Heatly’s granddad, the late Sir Peter.
The medal came in the 1m Springboard where Heatly progressed to the final in third place after the morning prelims. He improved on every one of his six dives in the final, landing the Forward 3½ Somersaults Pike beautifully. Scoring a new personal best of 399.25 Heatly secured bronze. Jack Laugher of England won gold with 438 points and Australia’s James Connor picked up silver in 412.45.
With the bronze medal confirmed an emotional Heatly said: “I can’t quite believe it; I’m a bit overwhelmed right now. The guys here are so good, so to come third in this event is amazing. I’ve never hit my round four dive so well in a competition. In fact it’s the one I’ve been struggling with the most in training, so I’m over the moon.”
Speaking about his grandfather Heatly said: “He’s the reason I started diving. With his passing, this is the only Commonwealth Games since 1948 that he’s not had any involvement in so to be able to bring another medal back to the family feels very special indeed.”
Heatly’s teammate and training partner, Lucas Thomson finished 12th in the event.
Heatly returns in the morning for the 3m springboard prelims while Gemma McArthur will make her Team Scotland debut in the 10m Platform.
Diving prelims start at 10:01 local time (01:01 UK time) and finals start at 19:01 local time (10:01 UK time).
Team Scotland’s shooters added to their medal haul with a gold and bronze today at the Belmont Shooting Centre near Brisbane.
21-year-old David McMath made a stunning debut in his first Commonwealth Games, winning Scotland’s first-ever individual gold medal in the Men’s Double Trap, setting a new Games Record of 74 in the Final. Earlier he’d qualified in first position with a score of 137+6 following a shoot-off with India’s Ashab Mohd.
On winning gold, McMath said: “I’m absolutely loving it; I couldn’t have asked for more. After the first few pairs, I was a bit on the back foot, but started to pull it back. I took a time off Uni to train, so the last couple of months have been pretty focused. The experience here has been absolutely incredible.
“I’ve never been in a final as big as that before and it’s a totally new experience. I shot very well today and to get here in the end is so fantastic.”
Fellow Scot, Calum Fraser also competed in the Men’s Double Trap but placed outside final qualification in 10th with 129.
Earlier in the day, Linda Pearson won a bronze medal in the Women’s Double Trap with a score of 87.
On winning a Commonwealth medal, Pearson said: “I can’t believe it. It’s a massive achievement at my age, 54, I’m so pleased. It means the world to me. The range is brilliant, it’s been fabulous.”
Meanwhile, Ian Shaw and Sandy Walker were competing in the Queen’s Prize Individual Finals Day 1, finishing 13th (104-11v) and 17th (103-10v) respectively.
Team Scotland’s shooters will be back in action tomorrow with Ian Shaw and Sandy Walker in the Queen’s Prize Individual Finals Day 2 at 10am (01:00hrs GMT) and Jennifer and Seonaid McIntosh in the Women’s 50m Prone Final at 2pm (05:00hrs GMT).
Team Scotland increased its medal tally to 32 today, surpassing the Team’s pre-Games target of 29, thanks to the efforts of shooters Linda Pearson and David McMath, T35 100m sprinter Maria Lyle, and diver James Heatly.
McMath collected gold in the Men’s Double Trap, while Pearson picked up bronze in the equivalent women’s event. With a time of 15.14, Paralympic bronze medallist, Maria Lyle finished in second place for a silver medal, whilst diver James Heatly followed in his late grandfather’s footsteps to collect the bronze on the 1m Springboard.
For full details, please see the feature pieces on Shooting, Diving, and Athletics.
Badminton
Kirsty Gilmour made light work of her first game in the Women’s Singles, hammering her opponent 21-3, 21-4 in just 17 minutes. There was an equally impressive showing from Alex Dunn and Eleanor O’Donnell to win their Mixed Doubles second round against Sri Lanka in straight games.
Unfortunately, there was disappointment in the Men’s Singles for Kieran Merrilees who exited the competition after a narrow defeat in three games to Singapore’s Kean Yew Loh. Taking on the high-quality Asian, Merrilees was outplayed in the first game, but won the second 21-18 to set up a cagey decider; however he wasn’t quite able to get across the line, losing 21-18.
Also bowing out at the round of 32 were Julie MacPherson and Martin Campbell who, like Merrilees, were given an extremely tough draw against England’s Lauren Smith and Marcus Ellis.
Boxing
Scotland’s Boxers have guaranteed themselves at least two bronze medals after Reece McFadden and John Docherty progressed to the semi-finals at Oxenford Studios today.
Reece, a bronze medallist in Glasgow has guaranteed himself another Commonwealth Games medal with a unanimous points victory in the quarter finals against Pakistan fighter Syed Muhammad Asif. Reece looked sharp and landed some impressive blows to comfortably take the bout with a unanimous decision.
Afterwards he said: “I just love boxing. This is a big stage, and it’s so important to me. I got bronze in Glasgow and the reception was unbelievable. Even here it’s outstanding and it takes me back to there. I am desperate for that gold medal. I’m delighted with that performance and I’m going to keep progressing to take that gold medal home for Scotland.”
In a repeat of the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games Middleweight Final, John Docherty once again faced Englishman Benjamin Whittaker. The result on the Gold Coast went the way of Docherty and he now proceeds to the semi-finals.
“I’m very happy to secure the bronze, but all that’s on my mind is the gold. That’s what I’ve come here for”, he said after the bout.
Up against home favourite Harry Garside, with a partisan crowd cheering for the Aussie; Lightweight Nathaniel Collins fought well throughout the quarter-final bout but came out on the wrong side of the judges’ decision.
The fighters return to the ring at Oxenford Studios on Friday 13 April, when Reece will face Norther Ireland boxer Brendan Irvine at 13:47hrs (04:47hrs UK time); and John fights Cameroon’s Dieudonne Wilfred Seyi Ntsengue at 20:47 (11:47hrs UK time).
Cycling
Team Scotland’s cyclists will turn their attention to the Mountain Bike trails at Nerang tomorrow as Grant Ferguson and Isla Short compete in the cross-country event.
Short, the 21-year- old from Peebles, will feature in her first Commonwealth Games at 10:31hrs (01:31hrs UK time) and comes into the contest fresh from triumphing in the 2018 UK National Cross Country Series curtain-raiser.
Grant Ferguson will join the action in the men’s event in the afternoon at 13:31hrs (04:31hrs UK time) as he bids to climb from his fifth-place finish at Glasgow 2014 to the podium on the Gold Coast.
Hockey
Team Scotland’s women will play their classification match against Malaysia tomorrow, where they will battle for a 7th place finish. The game gets underway at 15:45hrs (06:45hrs UK time).
The men’s classification games will be played on Friday 13 April, with the draw being completed at the conclusion of today’s matches.
Lawn Bowls
The team also continued the battle in the preliminary stages of the Women’s Pairs and Men’s Fours today, with the Women’s Pairs first beating Cook Islands 36-10, and then losing 11-8 to Malaysia, meaning they qualify for a quarter-final match tomorrow (Thursday 12 April) against Australia, taking place at 09:00hrs (00:00 UK time).
It’ll be a day of quarter-finals as Darren Burnett plays against Malaysia’s Muhammad Soufi Rusli who he beat on Tuesday in a close contest, 21-19.
The Men’s Fours beat England 12-8 today, meaning they remain at the top of their pool going into their quarter-final tomorrow (draw TBD). The game gets under way at 12:30hrs (03:00hrs UK time).
The Women’s Triples were drawn against Malaysia in their quarter-final this evening, ending the game on a 17-15 win, meaning they will progress to the semi-final against Canada tomorrow, also taking place at 09:00hrs (00:00 UK time).
Netball
The action on the Netball court continued today, as Team Scotland took on Uganda in the last of their Pool B matches. The African side took the lead in the first quarter with 14-11 and then clung on until the bitter end, with a score of 57-37.
Team Scotland will play their classification game tomorrow against Barbados at 11:00hrs (02:00hrs UK time).
Squash
Lisa Aitken and Alison Thomson faced the Cayman Islands in their first Women’s Doubles match of the day, winning 2-0. In the evening they faced English pair Laura Massaro and Singles silver medallist, Sarah-Jane Perry on the show court at Oxenford Studios for a place in the next round. It was a physical encounter and the Scottish duo played some spectacular shots to take the first game. The second and third games were a real battle, both going in favour of the English pair, who took the match 2-1.
In the Men’s Doubles, Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban continued their strong start with a 2-0 win over Guyana in 15 minutes. Lisa Aitken then returned to the court for her third match of the day alongside Kevin Moran in the Mixed Doubles against India’s Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu. It was a close match, going 2-0 to India, but the Scottish duo had already done enough to progress to the Round of 16.
Tomorrow’s matches see Greg and Alan in the Round of 16 (opponents to be decided in the morning session); while Lisa and Kevin play English pair Jenny Duncalf and Adrian Waller at 13:10hrs (04:10hrs UK time).
Table Tennis
The Men’s Doubles competition got underway this morning with Gavin Rumgay and Craig Howieson getting the better of the Northern Irish duo Owen Cathcart and Zak Wilson 3-0.
Gavin and Craig returned to the tables in the Men’s Singles facing Buwaneka Jayasingha Muidyanselage of Sri Lanka and Ning Gao of Singapore respectively. Gavin’s experience showed as he took the match 4-0; but Craig, facing a strong player lost out 4-0.
After his match Gavin said: “I felt pretty sharp, and I surprised myself to be honest. The mindset was attack. I had a good 30 minutes in the practice hall, the best I have had, so I just took that onto the match table and did the same again. I wasn’t even thinking too much, other than just be aggressive and take the ball as early as possible. For 33 years old, I move my feet pretty well.”
Tomorrow at Oxenford the Doubles continues with a match against England duo David McBeath and Samuel Walker at 17:55hrs (08:55hrs UK time). Gavin is also in action in the Singles Round of 16 against another Englishman, Liam Pitchford at 13:55hrs (04:55hrs UK time).
The action continues tomorrow in Athletics, Diving, Badminton, Boxing, Lawn Bowls, Shooting, Squash, Table Tennis, Netball and Women’s Hockey. Getting their Gold Coast 2018 campaign underway is Wrestling, whilst the Mountain Bike event will take place on the cross-country trails at Nerang.
Following day seven of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Scotland has won 32 medals; and sit seventh in the medal table with 7 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze. In doing so the team has exceeded the pre-Games medal target of 29, set in Melbourne in 2006 – Team Scotland’s previous most successful overseas Games.
Jon Doig OBE, Team Scotland Chef de Mission said: “Ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, we identified the 2006 Games in Melbourne as our benchmark in terms of medals. To reach the close of day seven with 32 medals; three more than our total from the last time we are in Australia at the same time of year, with the same sport programme, is testament to the rigorous preparation and the performances of our team so far.
“However there is still work to be done. We have a number of athletes still to compete; and some of whom are already involved in medal matches and we’re determined to make the most of all our remaining opportunities, supporting the last athlete out onto the field of play every bit as much as the first.
“We are confident that we will add to our medal tally further by the time the Games ends, and the focus of our athletes, coaches and team management remains on delivering success until the very end.”
Paul Bush OBE, Chair of Commonwealth Games Scotland added: “The Gold Coast 2018 Games is already our most successful overseas Games in terms of the number of medals won and there’s still plenty to play for over the next four days.
“We have already exceeded our pre-Games medal target of 29, and in doing so have seen some spectacular performances and incredible stories coming from our athletes. Following Glasgow 2014, when we had our most successful ever Games, it was important for us to set an ambitious yet realistic target. What is now clear is that we are in the midst of setting a new benchmark for future overseas Games to be measured against.
“Alongside the medal successes, we’ve had World Records and siblings winning medals at cycling; Duncan Scott has become our most medalled athlete at a single Games; we’re playing for medals in Basketball and our Beach Volleyball teams made their mark as the sport made its debut. These are just a few of the stories and the moments we will all remember from the Gold Coast. And who knows what’s yet to come over the final four days.