Australia clinch ninth gold in pool

Australia’s Daniel Fox swims en route to winning gold in the men’s 200m Freestyle S14 Final at the Tollcross Swimming Centre during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. (AFP)

AFP/Glasgow

Sally Hunter ensured it was a one-two for Australia as she took silver, while England’s Molly Renshaw claimed bronze. There wasn’t to be a second medal of the meet for Scotland’s Hannah Miley after her 400m individual medley gold as she finished fourth despite smashing her personal best by a second.

Earlier, Australia’s Daniel Fox took gold in the para-sport 200m freestyle S14. Fox had broken the world record in qualifying earlier in the day and, despite not matching that time, came home nearly three seconds ahead of England’s Thomas Hamer in 1min 57:89sec. Jack Thomas claimed Wales’ second swimming medal of the meet with bronze.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Olympic champion Chad le Clos retained his 200m butterfly Commonwealth title in a Games record of 1min 55:07sec. Grant Irvine took silver for Australia, while South Africa also claimed bronze thanks to Sebastien Rousseau. However, there was disappointment for Scotland’s Cameron Broadie as he missed out on a medal in fourth.

England’s Fran Halsall claimed her second Games gold medal as she edged out Australian sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell in the women’s 50m freestyle. Halsall broke her own Games record time from Friday’s semi-finals to edge out Cate Campbell by four hundredths of a second in 23:96sec with Bronte Campbell back in third.

In late night final, there was another Scotland against South Africa clash scheduled when Ross Murdoch goes for a second gold in the 100m breaststroke against Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh. England’s Adam Peaty is also expected to have a say, though, as he broke the Commonwealth Games record in qualifying fastest for the final.

It was a more comfortable morning for the favourites in the men’s 100m freestyle as world champion James Magnussen eased into the semifinals with the fastest time ahead of teammate Cameron McEvoy. Magnussen was surprisingly beaten by McEvoy at the Australian nationals in April and they are expected to battle it out for gold in Glasgow.

“I just did what I needed to do to get through to the next round. To come in second is pretty good,” said McEvoy, who swam the final leg as Australia claimed their seventh gold medal of the meet in the 4x100m freestyle relay on Thursday.

“I don’t need to show too many cards before the final,” said Magnussen. “A few of us are in a pretty lucky position in that we have a bit of room to work with. I’ll need to shift up a gear for the final and hopefully get more speed.”

Australia comfortably qualified as the fastest team for the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay ahead of New Zealand and England respectively.

England’s Smith defends 58kg weightlifting title

English weightlifter Zoe Smith defended her title in the women’s 58kg in thrilling style. Smith snatched a best of 92kg and maintained the pressure with a Commonwealth record 118kg clean and jerk for a total of 210kg, four more than Nigeria’s Ndidi Winifred (90+116).

Michaela Breeze of Wales claimed bronze with 202kg (93+109), her snatch also a new Commonwealth record.  “I loved every second of that,” said Smith. “I’m not on the planet at the moment. The Nigerian girl gave me a run for my money, but I got the gold.  Winifred said: “I needed to snatch the 95kg. I cannot explain it - it just didn’t happen. The competition was tough.”