Scotland’s five boxers will come home from the Isle of Man with four medals, having fought really well at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games. On a tight final day of competition at the Villa Marina, Charlie Flynn (Motherwell), Kieran Smith (Greenrigg) and Grant Quigley (Port Glasgow) all featured in the gold medal bouts, coming away with three silver medals.

At the start of the evening session, lightweight, Charlie Flynn (17) was up against Englishman Henry Thomas, where he narrowly missed out on the gold medal. It was a tight fight, with Thomas coming out a point ahead after the first round (3-4). In the second round the contest had swung in Charlie’s favour to 10-9, but after a busy third, the Englishman came out on top 18-19.

Kieran Smith (18) fought against Damon Jones (England) in the final of the welterweight division in another really tight contest, eventually losing out 10-15. Jones led after the first round and despite some excellent shots from Kieran the score was 5-7 after round two. Smith fought well again in the third round but it wasn’t enough to come out on top.

Middleweight, Grant Quigley (17) faced Dylan Hardy (Australia) in yet another tight contest. There was nothing between the two fighters, who were tied on 4-4 after the first round and 9-9 at the second. In the third round both athletes scored some big points, with the crowd willing on every punch. At the final bell neither fighter could have known they’d done enough to win, but when the decision was announced Hardy had picked up one more point to win 15-16. Commonwealth Games Scotland Chairman, Michael Cavanagh presented the flowers to the athletes during the medal ceremony.

Rhys Pagan (Sanquhar) fought extremely well in his first bout on Friday (9th September) against Ofentse Kompone (Botswana) coming out on top 20-16. In the Semi-final match against England’s Darren Tetley, Pagan again put on a good show, but lost out in a tight contest 19-12. Rhys was presented with the bronze medal in the Light Welterweight division this evening, by Commonwealth Games Federation President, Michael Fennell.

On the opening day (9th September) Mark McKeown (Coatbridge) fought extremely well and was unlucky not to come through against England’s Qais Ashfaq 16-9, who eventually went on to win the gold medal.

Each of the athletes will take something away from the Commonwealth Youth Games experience, and Boxing Team Manager Tony Kerr says they should all be proud of their performances. “The boys have all done really well this week”, says Tony. “I think we were unlucky in a couple of the bouts, but they have to be proud with how they have performed.”