GC2018: Day 8 Highlights

WALES REACH 25 MEDALS, EQUALLING HAUL IN AUCKLAND 1990

Judo recruit Curtis Dodge wins wrestling bronze

Second medal for Olivia Breen in the T38 100m sprint

Kerfoot-Robson shines on Cross Country Cycling debut

Netball and Women’s Hockey finish on a high

Heslop diving debut in 3m springboard final

Wales total: 25 medals (7 Gold, 8 Silver, 10 bronze) with at least four more guaranteed. Wales remain 8th in the medal table.


WRESTLING

26 year-old Curtis Dodge, who competed in Judo for Wales in Glasgow, won bronze in the 74kg wrestling.

He beat Ebimienfaghe Assizecourt of Nigeria in the men’s bronze medal match.

He had to fight his way into the medal contest during the finals this morning. Dodge came out on top against Sri Lanka’s Fernando Suresh in his first match, but a heavy defeat to South Africa’s Johannes Botha meant Dodge had to win his remaining match the make it through.

The added pressure was no problem for Dodge as he cruised through, beating Sierra Leone’s Abdulai Salam despite losing his front tooth in the process, to claim another medal for Wales.

ATHLETICS

Olivia Breen picked up her second medal of the Commonwealth Games as she stormed to bronze in the Women’s T38 100m Final.

Breen ran 13.35 to finish behind England’s Sophie Hahn and Australia’s Rhiannon Clarke, adding bronze to the Gold she won in Sunday’s T38 Long Jump Final.

In the morning session, Caryl Granville finished in sixth position in the first heat of the 100m Hurdles. with a time of 13.98.

James Ledger made his Commonwealth Games debut, finishing third in the first heat of the Men’s T12 100m. James’s time of 11.77 was a season’s best but not enough to progress to the final.

CYCLING

Mountain Biker Dylan Kerfoot-Robson realised his dream competing at the Commonwealth Games, when he took to the track in the Men’s Cross Country event at the Nerang Mountain Bike Trails venue.

The first Welsh mountain biker to compete at a Commonwealth Games since 2006, Kerfoot-Robson finished 12th out of 20 competitors, clocking in with a time of 1:26:37 and an average speed of 22.305km/h. 

New Zealand’s Samuel Gaze claimed the gold medal, with fellow countryman Anton Cooper and South African Alan Hatherly completing the podium. 

NETBALL

Wales finished 11th in the Gold Coast Netball competition after resounding 81 -32 victory over Fiji.

Wales set the pace from the outset, with goal attack Sarah Llewelyn continuing her excellent recent form. Wales’ put pressure on Fiji’s centre and picked off a series of passes, providing Chelsea Lewis with ample opportunity to open up a comfortable 21-5  after the first quarter.

Wales continued to dominate when Leila Thomas and Cara Lea Mosely entered the fray in the second period, replacing Kelly Morgan and Llewelyn. At half-time, Wales led 43-17.

Fiji’s best period came at the start of the third quarter, but they couldn’t sustain it as Georgia Rowe imposed herself and kept the scoreboard rattling.

Nia Jones maintained a high-tempo midcourt in the closing stages and Fiji began to fade. Wales soon passed the 63 goal mark, their previous highest score in a Commonwealth Games match (v Sri Lanka in 1998).

HOCKEY

The Welsh women’s team has finished in ninth place in the Commonwealth Games hockey tournament after a thrilling win over Ghana.

The match finished 1-1 at full time, so the match went to a shoot-out to decide which nation would finish in ninth place.

Wales won the shoot-out after Sian French and Sarah Jones scored from the team’s three attempts, while Ghana failed to score.

Earlier, Ghana had taken the lead in the third quarter, with a goal from Boakye.

But Tina Evans equalised from a penalty corner eight minutes from time.

Wales had chances to snatch it at the death as Jones, Clayton and Phoebe Richards went close.

Wales’ 9th place finish matches their achievement in Glasgow after a campaign where the team showed evidence of considerable improvement during the last four year cycle.

They beat semi-finalists India in their opening match and also pushed the world’s second ranked England close, before struggling to despatch lower ranked team.

Goal-scorer Sarah Jones said: “It’s the wonder of sport to beat one of the top teams and then struggle with the lower teams.”

GYMNASTICS

Wales’ Laura Halford missed out on an all-around medal in the rhythmic gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games, finishing fifth, whilst Gemma Frizelle fnished in a respectable 12th place position.

Halford, bronze medallist at the 2014 Glasgow Games, was on course for third again after three of the four apparatus on Australia’s Gold Coast.

But Malaysia’s Amy Kwan Dict Weng’s ribbon routine edged her into bronze, with Cyprus’ Diamanto Evripidou won gold, as Canada’s Katherine Uchida took silver.

Halford was less than one point off the bronze medal, having posted a score of 50.650 overall.

Halford and Frizelle are back in action tomorrow. Frizelle will compete in the Hoop final, alongside Halford who will also contest the Ball and Ribbon finals.

DIVING

15 year old Aidan Heslop made an impressive first appearance at the Commonwealth Games, qualifying for the final of the Men’s 3m Springboard.

He finished 12th with a total point score of 285.15.

His strongest event, the Men’s 10m Platform, takes place on Saturday.

LAWN BOWLS

The Men’s Fours team of Ross Owen, Stephen Harris, Marc Wyatt and Jonathan Tomlinson advanced to the Semi-Final, after a 17 – 15 Quarter-Final victory against India before losing to eventual champions Australia 15 – 5 at the Broadbeach Bowls Centre.

They now play England in the bronze medal match at 0330 BST tomorrow.

SQUASH

Wales Mixed Doubles pair of Tesni Evans and Peter Creed lost in the quarter-finals to Dipika Allikal Karthik and Saurav Ghosal in straight sets (8-11, 10-11)

Peter Creed and Joel Makin are also out of the Men’s Doubles after losing to Australia’s pairing of Zac Alexander and David Palmer in two sets (1-11, 6-11)

Tomorrow, the Welsh pair of Tesni Evans and Deon Saffery face Rachael Grinham and Donna Urquhart in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Doubles.

TABLE TENNIS

Wales Table Tennis player Joshua Stacey secured a Semi-Finals berth with a 3 – 0 win over Malaysia’s Mohammad Azwar Bakar in a must-win TT6-10 Singles Group 1 match at the Oxenford Studios. 

After a closely fought first game (Game 1: 12 – 10) , Stacey confirmed his place in the knock-out stages with a strong showing in the final two games of the match (Game 2: 11 – 7, Game 3:  11 – 6). Stacey will face Englishman Ross Wilson in the Semi-Final.  

Home Nations Singles Championships winner Chloe Thomas and National Table Tennis champion Charlotte Carey lost to India pairing Sutirtha Mukherjee and Pooja Sahasrabudhe 3 – 1 in a Women’s Doubles Round of 16 match. 


For a full schedule for Team Wales on Friday 13th April, please  go to: https://results.gc2018.com/en/all-sports/schedule-wales.htm