Sunday 27 July 2014

Glasgow 2014: DAY 4: South Africa shock New Zealand in rugby sevens, Australia break record in pool, Laura Trott seals gold in the velodrome


South Africa's history-making rugby sevens team (@Glasgow2014)


By Steven Oldham  MISS DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS? CLICK HERE

Something unheard of today in the rugby sevens tournament, as the reigning and four-time Commonwealth champions New Zealand were beaten by South Africa in the final.

The All Blacks had never lost a match in any Commonwealth tournament since the sport debuted in 1998 and were seen as huge favourites to retain their title.

South Africa beat the Kiwis 17-12 in the final at Ibrox to secure a historic win and a glimmer of hope to the rest of the world that New Zealand are not a shoe-in to win the first Olympic title in sevens when it debuts at the Rio 2016 Games. The Springboks had twice previously won bronze but proved to be the better team today.

They also won gold in lawn bowls, as their women's fours team beat Malaysia in the final.


James Magnussen on his way to gold (BBC Sport)


Medal table leaders Australia had another day to remember in the pool, with the highlight coming in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay where they set a new world record and finished ahead of the second place team, Scotland.

James Magnussen (100m freestyle), Belinda Hocking (200m backstroke), and Ben Treffers (50m backstroke) also claimed individual gold on yet another day of success for the team from Down Under.

In the first day of athletics, Michael Shelley took the men's marathon.

England's Commonwealth champion cyclist Laura Trott (Getty Images)


England also had a good day in the pool with both Fran Halsall and Siobhan O'Connor picking up gold.

Halsall picked up the 50m butterfly title to add to her freestyle medal over the same distance. O'Connor finally won gold in the 200m medley ahead of Australia's Alicia Coutts, who was the most decorated athlete in any sport at the last Games in Delhi. O'Connor had previously won two silver medals in Glasgow.

In the final day of track cycling, Laura Trott added a Commonwealth title in the points race to her two Olympic titles from London 2012. The 22-year-old led a Home Nations podium, with Welsh rider Elinor Barker second and Scotland's Katie Archibald took bronze.

Steve Scott and Charlotte Kerwood also secured a successful day at the Barry Budden Shooting Range with both taking gold medals in the double trap.

Singapore's women won the team event in table tennis (@tdysports)


Singapore convincingly won the women's' team table tennis tournament, beating Malaysia 3-0 in the final.

They beat India and Canada en-route to the final and are a team who regularly do well in table tennis - at the last Games in Delhi, six of their eleven gold medals came in this sport.

The team also have a chance to win a medal in badminton tomorrow as they play India in the bronze medal match of the mixed team event after losing to Malaysia earlier today.


Kenya's marathon winner Caleb Ndiku (@eaofficialpage)


Kenya had a strong first day in the athletics, picking up gold in both the women's marathon and men's 5000m.

Flomena Daniel won the women's marathon ahead of compatriot Caroline Kilel, and Caleb Ndiku took the 5000m title, again leading a Kenyan 1-2 from Isiah kiplangat Koech.




DAY 4 DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS...
  • India and Nigeria shared the spoils in weightlifting today, both picking up one gold and one silver each
  • Malaysia's world number one Nicol David made the final of the squash tournament where she will face Laura Massaro of England
  • The Bahamas won their first medal - in the pool, with Adrianna Vanderpool Wallace winning silver behind Fran Halsall in the 50m butterfly.
  • Malta are still without a medal, but they came close in shooting, with Nathan Xuereb losing out by just two points in his bronze medal match in the men's double trap.  

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