IMAGES|| MICHAEL WILLSON
On day seven of competition the track and field program geared up and deliver four gold medals. There was also gold in diving, shooting and lawn bowls as Australia won 15 medals including seven gold.
GOLD MEDALS (7)
Athletics Men’s F38 Shot Put Cameron CROMBIE
Athletics Men’s High Jump Brandon STARC
Athletics Women’s Javelin Throw Kathryn MITCHELL
Athletics Women’s T35 100m Isis HOLT
Diving Women’s Synchronised 3m Springboard Georgia SHEEHAN Esther QIN
Lawn Bowls Mixed B2/B3 Pairs Jake FEHLBERG Lynne SEYMOUR Bob SEYMOUR Grant FEHLBERG
Shooting Men’s 50m Pistol Daniel REPACHOLI
SILVER MEDALS (5)
Athletics Men’s F38 Shot Put Marty JACKSON
Athletics Men’s Long Jump Henry FRAYNE
Athletics Women’s Javelin Throw Kelsey-Lee ROBERTS
Diving Men’s 1m Springboard James CONNOR
Shooting Women’s Double Trap Emma COX
BRONZE MEDAL (3)
Athletics Women’s T35 100m Brianna COOP
Boxing Women’s 69kg Kaye SCOTT
Gymnastics Rhythmic Team Alexandra KIROI-BOGATYREVA Danielle PRINCE Enid SUNG
ATHLETICS
A massive night of athletes with four gold medals to Kathryn Mitchell, Brandon Starc, Isis Holt and Cameron Crombie. Mitchell, Holt and Crombie were favourites, but Starc, ranked fifth was an outside medal hope. Mitchell and Starc delivered lifetime bests marks in front of a boisterous home crowd.
BADMINTON
Anthony Joe started proceedings in the round of 32 in the men’s singles taking on Pakistani, Muhammed Bhatti. It was a struggle but Joe found his way to win a tight first game 22-20 and then also got on top late in the second to win 21-18 to advance to the round of 16 in his first ever Commonwealth Games.
The experienced women’s doubles pair, Leanne Choo and Renuga Veeran faced the highly fancied youngsters from Singapore, Ren-Ne Ong and J.Y.C.Wong. It was a hard fought game, but the Australians went down agonisingly 22-20, 21-16, 21-18.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
We’re going for gold. Both our men’s and women’s pairs won through to their respective gold medal matches after taking to the Coolangatta sand on Wednesday.
Chris McHugh and Damien Schumann made light work of their English opponents, blasting Gregory and Sheaf off the court in 40 minutes. McHugh’s service game was lethal, sending down thunderbolt after thunderbolt including a 94km/h serve that was 33km/h faster than any produced by England. The duo was on top for the entirety of the match and closed out the game in straight sets, 21-13, 21-16.
It wasn’t quite as easy for Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar, who needed every bit of three sets to secure their entry to the gold medal round.
The girls escaped with the first set after trailing by two points before losing their first set of the tournament in the second stanza. Matauatu and Pata covered the sand with a defensive furosity and made Australia earn every point. Some Mariafe bombs helped Australia close out the final set 15-9 and set up a mouth-watering matchup with Canada.
BOXING
Swedish-born Australian Anja Stridesman claimed victory over Glasgow silver medallist Sarita Devi to book herself a spot in the semi finals, guaranteeing herself a bronze medal in the 60kg division.
Melbourne boxer Harry Garside continued his impressive campaign on the Gold Coast in the 60kg division, with a unanimous victory over Scotland’s Nathaniel Collins.
Another win was from Queenslander Clay Waterman, who defeated Mbachi Kaonga from Zambia in the 81jg division. It was a split decision, which caused an uproar from the Zambia side. Waterman will now head into the semi finals this Friday along with Garside and Stridesman.
Australian boxer Kaye Scott has lost her shot at a chance at Commonwealth gold, after losing her bout to Wales’ Rosie Eccles in the 69kg semi final. The 33-year-old, who made it to the quarterfinals in Glasgow, was outclassed by the 21-year old Welshwoman, losing in a split decision.
DIVING
Australia’s success in the pool at Optus Aquatic Centre has translated through to its diving platform, with Esther Qin and Georgia Sheehan claiming the first gold medal on offer in the sport. The pair were victorious in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard, after sitting in fourth place prior to the fifth and final round of diving.
Qin and Sheehan, the 2014 World Champions in the event, stepped up to the platform and outclassed their rivals, with a two-and-a-half somersault to add 71.1 to their score, to finish with 284.10. The pair were able to outperform fellow Australians Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith, who were in gold medal position until a failed final dive put them in seventh place, despite the windy outdoor conditions.
It was a case of saving his best till last for Melbourne’s Rio Olympian James Connor who nailed his last two of six dives to seal silver in tonight’s 1m springboard final. The 22-year-old, now on diving scholarship at the University of Indiana, used all his experience from the NCAA meets to keep his cool when it mattered most.
Connor’s second last five a Reverse 2 ½ Sommersaults Tuck (with a degree of difficulty of three) delivered him 76.50 points to put him right into the contest – jumping from fourth to second with one round remaining.
His final dive, a Forward 3 ½ Sommersaults Tuck, also with a degree of difficulty of three saw the judges deliver a total of 75.00, putting pressure on the remaining divers to deliver.
He faced an anxious wait as the next four divers failed to reach his score, leaving him in second place with only England’s defending champion and Jack Laugher to dive last and held his nerve to take the gold again.
Laugher, 23, showed why consistency through all six dives paid the golden dividend moving through his list without fault to total 438 points to Connor’s 412.45 with James Heatly (Scotland) 399.25 taking the bronze.
Connor’s fellow Australians Matthew Carter (368.30) and Kurtis Matthews (367.60) finished eighth and ninth respectively
GYMNASTICS – RHYTHMIC
Australia has clinched team bronze at the end of the first day of Rhythmic Gymnastics competition at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, finishing third with a score of 120.800 behind Cyprus (130.625) and Malaysia (126.950).
Danielle Prince and Enid Sung erupted into tears of joy when it was confirmed that Australia would be appearing on the podium. The ‘veterans’ of the team – at 25 and 23 years of age respectively – were overcome with both relief and pride that their routines – and bodies! – held up to the rest of the competition on the day.
HOCKEY – MEN
The Kookaburras have secured top spot in Pool A after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over New Zealand in their final round robin game at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. The result continues Australia’s recent dominance over the Black Sticks, extending their winning run to eight games against their Trans-Tasman rivals. Australia will play India in the semifinals on Friday night.
LAWN BOWLS
Australia’s Vision-Impaired Mixed Pairs team of Lynne Seymour (Director Bob Seymour) and Jake Fehlberg (Director Grant Fehlberg) secured Australia’s second gold medal of the GC2018 bowls competition.
The contingent toppled the defending champion from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, South Africa to add to the nation’s medal tally tonight, with a stunning 12-9 victory.
The Jackaroos broke away to a 9-1 lead after the opening six ends, before South Africa mounted their comeback which saw them get within two shots on the final end, with Australia collecting 1 and sealing the coveted golden medallion.
Australia’s women’s triples team of Carla Krizanic, Natasha Scott and Rebecca Van Asch also had a comprehensive victory over Northern Ireland in their quarter-final contest, 30-5.
The men’s fours team geared up again for their penultimate rubber against Norfolk Island, and secured a 24-10 victory.
NETBALL
The Diamonds have booked a semi-final berth against New Zealand on Saturday, following their 72 – 51 victory over Jamaica.
In what was a physical encounter, the Diamonds shined under pressure with composure through a full-court defence and multiple options through attack.
The team continued their incredible accuracy, shooting at a combined 96% conversion under the post.
Australia starting seven – GS: Caitlin Bassett, GA: Susan Pettitt, WA: Madi Robinson, C: Kim Ravaillion, WD: Gabi Simpson, GD: Jo Weston, GK: Courtney Bruce
Quarter by Quarter Score:
Q1: AUS 21 – JAM 14
Q2: AUS 36 – JAM 29
Q3: AUS 55 – JAN 38
Q4: AUS 72 – JAM 51
Shooting Statistics:
Caitlin Bassett 22/23 (96%)
Susan Pettitt 20/21 (95%)
Caitlin Thwaites 22/22 (100%)
Stephanie Wood 8/10 (80%)
SHOOTING
Daniel Repacholi claimed gold in men’s 50m air pistol, while Emma Cox won silver in women’s double trap.
The 35-year-old scored 227.2 to win from Bangladesh’s Shakil Ahmed and Indian Om Mitharval and it came just days after he was disappointed to finish fourth in the 10m air pistol.
Emma Cox had one hand on the gold medal in the women’s double trap but let it slip to Indian Shreyasi Singh in a shoot-off.
Cox led by seven after three rounds but posted 18 to Singh’s 25 in the last round and then went one for two in response to Singh’s pair in the shoot-off to claim the silver medal.
SQUASH
As we edge closer to the squash quarterfinals, Australians are working hard to win their last pool rounds in the doubles.
Zac Alexander and David Palmer defeated Chris Binnie and Lewis Walters from Jamaica in two sets, and continuing the winning streak was Donna Urquhart and Cameron Pilley who were able to defeat Pakistan in the same amount of sets. Rachael Grinham and Ryan Cuskelly also snagged themselves a win against Trinidad and Tobago.
In the men’s doubles, Ryan Cuskelly and Cameron Pilley showed form, taking out Trinidad and Tobago, however our women’s pairings were not as lucky.Christine Nunn and Sarah Cardwell were unable to secure a win, losing to New Zealand’s Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy. They also lost their second pool match of the day to Malaysian pairing Rachel Arnold and Sivasangari Subramaniam.
TABLE TENNIS
It was a huge day in the table tennis hall for Australian athletes, with the mixed, women’s and men’s doubles events continuing in their group stages, as well as the Para-table tennis, and the individual men’s and women’s tournaments.
Australia continued to show its dominance in the mixed doubles with five out of seven pairings winning their matches. The five who won, defeated their opponents in three straight sets. In the women’s individual events, Melissa Tapper dominated her Malaysian opponent, winning 4-1, while Tracey Feng won 4-0 over Wales and Jian Fang Lay defeated Vanuatu 3-0. Heming Hu won his men’s individual round 4-0 over Ghana, however Xin Yan lost 4-0 to Malaysia’s Chee Feng Leong.
In the Para-events, dual Olympian/Paralympian lead the charge with a 3-0 victory over England’s Felicity Pickard, while Andrew McDonnell and Barak Mizrachi also won their second rounds 3-0, to Canada and Nigeria respectively.
