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.