Team Scotland got off to a flying start on day 1 of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games to lie fifth in the medal table with one gold, two silver and two bronze.
Marc Austin will go down in history as the first athlete to win a Triathlon medal for Scotland at a Commonwealth Games; and the nation’s first of the Gold Coast Games after winning bronze in the Men’s Individual event, beating both the legendary Brownlee brothers.
This was swiftly followed by the Team’s first gold, when Para-Sport cycling duo, Neil Fachie and Matt Rotherham won the Blind and Visually Impaired 1000m Time Trial on the first night in the velodrome setting a new Games record time.
The excitement then came thick and fast with an impressive bronze for the Scotland’s gymnasts in the Men’s Team event, before there was double silver in the pool for Hannah Miley (400m Individual Medley) and Ross Murdoch (200m Breaststroke).
Overall there were 13 sports in action with further highlights being an impressive win for Scotland Basketball over home nations rivals England. There was a two match victory over Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the Badminton players in the Mixed Team Event, whilst the lawn bowlers won seven of their eight Games at the Broadbeach Bowls Club. The men’s Hockey team had the final say of the night beating South Africa 4-2 in a thrilling match.
In summary …
Weightlifting: On the opposite side of the Carrara arena the weightlifters were in action, with Lisa Tobias contesting the women’s 48kg category. The former gymnast only took up the sport post-Glasgow 2014 and has made huge strides to make her first Commonwealth Games. After a shaky start the pocket rocket nailed her final attempt at 60kg in the Snatch, before setting a Scottish Clean and Jerk record of 79kg for a combined total of 139kg, just 1kg shy of her personal best.
Finishing in the eighth position, Tobias said: “The pressure was on for that third attempt but I just went out there and gave it everything. I could hear all the crowd cheering me and that just gave me that extra wee bit of comfort.
“Overall I’m really happy as that was just 1kg short of my best ever, so to come out here on a stage like this and perform like that I have to be pleased. Setting a Scottish record at the Commonwealth Games, no one can ever take that away from me.”
Lawn Bowls: Scotland won big time today at Broadbeach Bowling Club, coming out victorious in seven out of eight games.
First up was the Women’s Singles Caroline Brown against Jersey, winning 21-13, while the Men’s Triples picked up a 27-11 win against Cook Islands. In the afternoon, the Men’s Pairs won 14-11 Niue whilst the Women’s Fours had an easy win also to Niue, coming in at 44-1. The Mixed B2/B3 Pairs then beat England 16-6.
The evening session had more wins in store for the Men’s Pairs (37-6 against Samoa), and the Women’s Fours (21-7 against Canada). The Open B6/B7/B8 Triples also played in the evening session, losing a difficult game 18-6 to Australia.
Tomorrow the team will play nine matches in six disciples, with the action on the greens kicking off from 09:00hrs (00:00hrs UK time).
Hockey: Things got off to a flyer for Scotland’s Men’s Hockey as the men picked up a 4-2 win against South Africa. Scotland scored three goals in the first half with Kenny Bain, Alan Forsyth, and Rob Harwood getting the ball in the net. The second half gave one more goal from Kenny Bain.
Tomorrow the men will have a rest day ahead of their game against Canada on Saturday 7 April at 11:30hrs (02:30hrs UK time).
It was a tough game for Scotland’s Women this morning as they played fiercely against New Zealand in the newly-refurbished Gold Coast Hockey Centre. Ranked 4th in the world, a full 14 places above the Scottish side, New Zealand took a 6-1 win.
The women will look to improve on this result in tomorrow’s match against lower ranked Canada, being played at 21:30hrs (12:30hrs UK time).
Boxing: The first fighter in the ring was Stephen Newns, who defeated John Moleni of Tonga to set up a bout with New Zealand’s Curlun Richardson in the last-16. Scott Forrest v Kenya (14:02hrs / 05:02hrs UK Time), John Docherty v Mauritius (20:02hrs / 11:02hrs UK Time) and Mitchell Barton v New Zealand (20:32hrs / 11:32hrs UK Time) all take to the ring tomorrow
Squash: Kevin Moran was first in action with a 3-0 victory over Jules Snagg of St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Men’s Singles. Returning to the court in the evening session he was unable to overcome New Zealander Campbell Grayson, going down 3-0.
Alan Clyne won 3-1 against Tayyab Aslam from Pakistan; while his doubles partner Greg Lobban won 3-0 against Ravindu Laksiri from Sri Lanka. Alison Thomson faced a tough opening match, losing 3-1 to Malaysian Sivasangari Subramaniam.
Tomorrow, Clyne takes on Rex Hendrick of Australia at 20:15hrs (11:15hrs UK Time) before Lobban faces England’s Daryl Selby at 14:00hrs (05:00hrs UK Time).
Netball: Scotland suffered defeat in their opening match as they battled hard in a fierce contest with neighbours, England, but were defeated 74-28 at the Gold Coast Exhibition Centre.
Despite the result, the team were upbeat as they left the court to cheers from Scotland supporters. Team Captain, Claire Brownie said “That was a brilliant experience for us, England are going for gold here at the Commonwealth Games and we are currently the 9th in the world.
“It was fantastic to get all twelve players out to experience the Commonwealth Games in front of a massive crowd and we will learn lots from it ahead of our next game against Wales which is a crucial match-up for us.”
The team will have a chance to recover before looking to bounce back in their next Pool B match against Wales on Saturday.
Table Tennis: Scotland’s team of Gavin Rumgay, Craig Howieson and Colin Dalgleish faced home nation Australia in the first round of the team competition. The hosts ran out 3-0 winners following two Singles matches and a Doubles game. The team return to the tables at 12:00hrs (03:00hrs UK Time) tomorrow against Kiribati.