GC2018: Day 7 Highlights
GILLY AND JULIE WIN BRONZE IN LAWN BOWLS BRONZE IN TIE-BREAK THRILLER
Mixed B2/B3 Pairs win Team Wales’ 23rd Medal in Gold Coast
Rosie Eccles guaranteed at least silver as Welsh boxers dominate
McDonagh and Lee win quarters to secure at least bronze
Halford qualifies for four Rhythmic Gymnastics Finals
Squash pairs book quarter final spots
Netball and women’s hockey lose tight encounters
Team Wales have now won 23 Medals (7
Gold, 8 Silver, 8 Bronze) with at least 3 more guaranteed. This places Wales 8th
in the medal table.
BOWLS
It was a great day on the green for Wales, with the Mixed B2/B3 Pairs team claiming Bronze in a thrilling 13 – 12 win against Scotland at the Broadbeach Bowls Centre.
Julie Thomas (Lead), John Wilson (Lead Director), Gilbert Miles (Skip) and John Byron (Skip Director) went up against Home Nation counterparts Irene Edgar (Lead), David Thomas (Lead Director), Robert Barr (Skip) and Sarah-Jane Ewing (Skip Director) in the 16-end match.
The two sides went shot for shot, leading to a tie- breaker after 15 ends and a brilliant last bowl by Miles to secure the medal.
“I remember Robert Weale saying he felt cool when he won in Delhi and I felt really cool, no nerves, something in the air and it went really well with the work we put in,” said Miles, who at 72 is Wales’ oldest team member.
Thomas said claiming the bronze medal made up for the result against South Africa in the Semi-Final.
“I think we were so disappointed yesterday that the semi-final turned on the last ball of the last end, and we turned it round tonight,” Thomas said.
The Men’s Fours team of Ross Owen, Stephen Harris, Marc Wyatt and Jonathan Tomlinson also had a field day, securing their third consecutive win with a dominant 14 – 4 victory over the Cook Islands in their round four fixture. The Men’s Fours will square up against New Zealand in a round five fixture tomorrow, Thursday April 12.
The Women’s Pairs team of Laura Daniels and Jessica Sims started off the day well with a 18 – 13 win over Northern Ireland in round four, before going down to South Africa 23 – 17 in the fifth.
The Women’s Triples of Emma Woodcock, Caroline Taylor and Anwen Butten went end-to-end with New Zealand, before the Trans-Tasman trio claimed a 19 – 15 win. The Triples team later faced England in a Quarter Final match, with a comprehensive 16 – 11 win securing England a Semi-Finals berth.
BOXING
Wales guaranteed themselves three boxing medals on a day with a clean sweep for Welsh boxing at Oxenford Studios on Wednesday evening.
Rosie Eccles is now guaranteed at least a silver medal after notching the biggest win of her career to defeat home favourite Kaye Scott in front of a partisan crowd at Oxenford Studios on Wednesday night.
Pontypool-based Eccles won by a 4-1 split decision in her semi-final and will face England’s Sandy Ryan in a mouth-watering finale on Saturday night.
“I’m totally ecstatic, that’s what I came here for,” she said afterwards.
“I knew I had to do a proper job on her. I couldn’t just win the rounds.
“I needed to win them and then some. The last round was less clinical but you’ve got to use a bit of heart sometimes.
“I’ve got an amazing team, an amazing coach. We have a plan for everything and we did that today so I’m very happy.”
The full-time MSc Sport Psychology student is now guaranteed at least a silver medal but has her sights firmly set on the biggest prize this weekend: “We’re going for gold on the 14th and I’m ecstatic.”
Mickey McDonagh was up next, taking on Thadius Katua of Papua New Guinea in his Men’s 60kg quarter-final.
The eight-time Welsh Champion won by a unanimous verdict and is through to Friday’s semi-final (05.17) after beating Thadius Katua.
He will face Australian Harry Garside in the last four, guaranteed at least a bronze medal.
“I did find the fight quite comfortable,” he said.
“The crowd was against me as well. They were all on his side. To be honest that helps me. It makes me push myself.”
So he’s certainly not fazed at the prospect of fighting in front of a boisterous home support in two days’ time: “I believe it will bring the best out in me, without the crowd behind me, as the underdog. I know I’m capable of beating him.”
Sammy Lee is also guaranteed a bronze medal after closing the evening’s action against Uganda’s Regarn Simbwa in his Men’s 81kg quarter-final.
The African was an awkward customer but Lee stuck to his task and secured a 3-1 split decision: “My corner was telling me to hit him with straight punches. He was a tall opponent.”
And like his two teammates he was very clear on his ambition in Gold Coast.
“I am going for gold,” he said.
GYMNASTICS
Wales’ Laura Halford will compete for a medal in four finals over the next two days after an impressive display in qualification on the first day of the Rhythmic Gymnastics competition in Gold Coast.
Halford, 21, won a silver and two bronze medals in Glasgow four years ago and now has the chance to add more to her collection.
Tomorrow, she will be competing in the Individual All-Around Final, before the apparatus finals in Hoop, Ball and Ribbon on Friday.
Also through to the Hoop Final is Gemma Frizelle. She qualified 6th with a score of 13.400.
In the Team Final, Halford, Frizelle and Abigail Hanford finished 5th, ahead of England, as Cyprus took the gold.
SQUASH
It’s been a day of ups and downs for Team Wales’ squash doubles.
Duo Joel Makin and Peter Creed are through to the men’s squash doubles last 16 despite their 2-1 defeat to India. The Welsh pair saved 7 match balls in the final games, coming from 10-3 down to 10-10 before losing the final point.
It was a similar story for women’s duo Tesni Evans and Deon Saffery who also lost their game to India 2-1. That mounted the pressure on their second game against Pakistan in the evening – a game the girls would have to win to make it to the quarter-finals.
But the pressure would prove to be no problem for Evans and Saffery who cruised their way through winning the first two games 11-3, 11-5 booking themselves a place in the quarter-finals.
It was a successful night for our mixed doubles as Tesni Evans and Peter Creed won their match against Cayman Islands 2-0. They finish top of their group and also progress to the quarter-finals.
SHOOTING
Following yesterday’s medal haul, the Fullbore Rifle team were the only Welsh representatives at the Belmont Shooting Ground today. Chris Watson and Gaz Morris, along with their coach Martin Watkins, began day 1 of 3 in their Queen’s Prize Individual competitions.
Both had one very strong and one not so strong shoot to leave them with 103 points out of 105. They are still very much in medal contention with 150 more points to score on each of the next two competition days. Gaz has a high ‘V Bull’ count which means he may rank higher than competitors if tied on scores, a common occurrence in such high quality Fullbore competitions as the Queen’s Prize.
TABLE TENNIS
Joshua Stacey’s TT6-10 Singles Group 1 win the highlight of the day for the Wales Table Tennis team at the Oxenford Studios.
Stacey, who was the 2017 Belgium Para Open winner, defeated Canadian Ian Kent 3 – 0, enjoying a healthy winning margin in each of the three games he played (Game 1: 11 – 8, Game 2: 11 – 6, Game 3: 11 – 7). Stacey will go up against Malaysia’s Mohammad Azwar Bakar tomorrow in a must-win game.
Home Nations Singles Championships winner Chloe Thomas and National Table Tennis champion Charlotte Carey competed in the Women’s Singles Round of 32. Thomas, who comfortably won both her first two matches without dropping a game, faced in-form Tracy Feng, with the Australian triumphing 4 – 0, while Carey put up a stern challenge against Malaysia’s Ying Ho in a six game match, with the Malaysian going onto claim a 4 – 2 win.
Meanwhile, Wales’ youngest team member Anna Hursey, who competed in her first Commonwealth Games at the age of 11, winning three games at Gold Coast 2018, has been speaking about the experience.
On the experience of being at her first Commonwealth Games:
“It’s been really, really good. It’s been very positive. It’s so valuable to be here and play against different types of players.
“The Village is really nice and I’ve loved meeting new people.”
On competing at Gold Coast 2018:
“It’s be a great experience to play in front of the crowd.
“I’ve enjoyed playing with Charlotte [Carey] because I’ve never really played with a leftie and I had to ask her where to stand!
“Somehow we connected and we played really well.”
On the opening ceremony at the Carrara Stadium:
“I thought it would be so big, but I couldn’t even see the people. I could only see loads of little dots so I pretended they were teddy bears!”
On the achievement of appearing at the Games at the age of 11 and win three matches:
“When I think about it it’s normal, but to other people I’m 11. I just think I’m an older one here. Since I came here I wanted to win but now I really want to win so I want to get to the top now.”
On keeping up with school in Australia:
“I’ve done my German but I haven’t done my history yet but I don’t really understand it! I’m going to have to go back and ask my teacher for help.”
HOCKEY
Wales Women’s Hockey showed more evidence of their progress as they finished their group matches at the Commonwealth Games with a tight contest against Malaysia.
The South-East Asian nation claimed a narrow 1-0 victory at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre.
An attacking Welsh side set the pace in the first quarter, with Sarah Jones and Eloise Laity firing shots on goal, while a save by Ella Jackson ensured the score remained level after 15 minutes.
The positive approach momentum continued into the second quarter, with Jones and Phoebe Richards hitting goal attempts. But Malaysia took some pace out of the game in a period when they were awarded a number of penalty corners. On the 23rd minute, Malaysia struck the decisive blow, Hanis Onn scoring what turned out to be the winner.
Wales spent the most of the third quarter attacking in Malaysia’s half, with Richards firing two quick shots away and Sophie Clayton also coming close.
A flurry of substitutions, refused video team referral and a last-minute penalty corner were the key moments in a pressure-filled final quarter, with Malaysia managing to hold on to the siren.
Wales now play Ghana for 9th place.
NETBALL
Wales 53 – 68 Malawi
Wales had pride to play for as they prepared to face the Malawi Queens in the final match of Pool B. The Queens needed a 63-point swing to make it into a semi final spot, meanwhile Wales would have needed a 27-goal margin of victory to make it off the bottom of the table. In the event, neither score materialised, however, viewers and spectators were treated to a much improved Welsh performance Down Under.
It was a great start for Wales, with the defence putting Malawi under all sorts of pressure. However, some goal chances were missed allowing the African nation to take the lead. Nevertheless, Wales were assertive in mid court and Kyra Jones made an interception to help keep the scores close at quarter time.
Wales continued their solid performance into the second quarter but it was Malawi who got the better of the Celts as the world number 6 team’s lead grew to eight goals. At this point, Sarah Llewelyn came on for Cara Lea Moseley who had taken a knock. Llewelyn made an immediate impact and scored a confident long-range goal.
The final period turned out to be the most frustrating for Wales as the Queens sought to finish with a flourish. Despite the Wales shooting percentage climbing over 80%, the defence seemed to lose its efficacy and forced passes gave Malawi plenty to shoot with.
Ultimately, it was an improved performance for Wales, after yesterday’s defeat by Uganda. Despite remaining winless in a brutal Pool B, Wales performed with credit and look far from the team that limped home from the World Cup Qualifiers back in January.
“It felt more like us tonight,” said captain Suzy Drane. “We are pleased with the improved performance but we still know we can put more on the court tomorrow.”
Wales face a short turnaround to play against Fiji from Pool A at 00.02am (UK time) tomorrow in the 11th/12th place classification match, with an opportunity to record a morale boosting victory to close out the Games.
ATHLETICS
Rebecca Chapman made her Commonwealth Games debut for Team Wales on the Gold Coast in the Women’s Long Jump Qualification on Wednesday morning.
Chapman had 3 jumps to try and achieve the automatic qualifying mark of 6.60m or to get herself in the top 12 qualifying positions. She got off to a solid start in the first round, jumping 5.94m before improving to 6.02m in the second round. On her third and final jump, she charged down the runway looking for a massive jump, but it wasn’t quite to be as she jumped 4.42m to finish in 15th place. Nevertheless, the Welsh record holder can be proud of her debut on the Commonwealth stage for Wales, and will have gained invaluable experience moving forwards towards future championships.
For a
full schedule for Team Wales on Thursday 12th April, please go to: https://results.gc2018.com/en/all-sports/schedule-wales.htm