Glasgow 2014: DAY 3: Scotland equal best gold medal haul already, Isle of Man secure first medal, Wales beat Canada in gymnastics

Scottish flagbearer Euan Burton (@JudoScotland)

By Steven Oldham    MISSED YESTERDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS? CLICK HERE

Scotland have already equalled their best ever gold medal haul at a Commonwealth Games in just three days.

The host nation now have 11 gold medals, the same amount they managed from the entirety of the Melbourne Games in 2006.

They won three golds in judo today, including flagbearer Euan Burton's last ever competitive match as a judoka.

35-year-old Burton went out on a high by beating Pakistan's Shah Hussein Shah in the -100kg weight class final, while Sarah Adlington (+78kg) and Chris Sherrington (+100kg) also won their competitions as the judo tournaments came to a close.

The home nations have been dominant in judo, with Scotland and England both winning six gold medals.

Para-cyclist Neil Fachie and pilot Craig Maclean won their second gold medals of the Games in the velodrome, coming from behind to beat the Australian riders Kieran Modra and Jason Niblett 2-1 in the tandem sprint.

Wales' Frankie Jones won her country's first gold (Getty Images)

 Wales waited two days for gold and then won two on the third day of competition.

Rhythmic gymnast Frankie Jones took a third medal in as many days, and it was also her country's first gold, as she won the individual ribbon event ahead of Malaysia and Canada.

A second gold followed in judo, as Natalie Powell denied Scotland a husband-and-wife pair of gold medals by defeating Olympic silver medallist - and Mrs Euan Burton - Gemma Gibbons in the final.



Isle of Man's silver medal winner Peter Kennaugh (Adam Gerrie)



Cyclist Peter Kennaugh helped the Isle of Man onto the medal table by winning silver in the men's points race.

Kennaugh - an Olympic champion two years ago as part of the British team pursuit - came second to New Zealand's Thomas Scully.



Australia's Commonwealth skeet champion Laura Coles (@InsideWAIS)



Australia now lead the medal table thanks to winning five more bronze medals than England.

Both nations have 17 golds and 14 silvers so the race is still very tight with strong events still to come for both nations.

The team from Down Under won their first shooting medals today, with Laura Coles taking the women's skeet and Daniel Repacholi winning the 10m air pistol event.

They also had further success in swimming and cycling and will look to sports like hockey, athletics and rugby sevens to boost their medal tally further.

New 100m breastroke champion Adam Peaty (@BBCmtd)

Despite being bumped down into second in the medal standings, England again had a good day.

The country's domination of triathlon in Commonwealth circles continued as they won the first ever mixed team event.

Fran Halsall and Adam Peaty both took gold and new Games records in the pool, in the 50m freestyle and 100m breaststroke respectively.

There was also success in weightlifting with Zoe Smith also taking a Commonwealth record in the -58kg weight class. The diminutive 20-year-old managed to lift an unbeaten total of 210kg.

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DAY THREE DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS...

• Mauritius win their first medal of Glasgow 2014, with Annabelle Laprovidence taking bronze in the +78kg judo competition.
• India lock out gold and silver in two shooting competitions, with seven of their seventeen medals coming in this sport
• New Zealand's all-conquering rugby sevens team were given a scare by the hosts before winning 17-14 on the way to topping their group
• The first bowls gold medal went to South Africa who won the para-sport mixed pairs event ahead of Scotland
• Malaysia's world number one squash player Nicol David is through to the semi finals after beating England's Jenny Duncalf

Glasgow 2014 - Commonwealth Games Sports Guide: Shooting

By Steven Oldham

Click HERE for Commonwealth Games 2014 homepage

Shooting is another longstanding Commonwealth sport, only missing from one Games since 1966.

Four different types of shooting are contested at this year's Games in Glasgow - clay target, full bore and pistol & small bore rifle shooting.

Over half of the shooting competitions from the last Commonwealth Games in Delhi have been axed for Glasgow, reducing from 44 to just 19.

WHEN?

Shooting runs from July 25-29 with many events settled on one day.

WHERE?

One of the events taking place outside Glasgow, shooting will be happening at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre on a Ministry of Defence traning base in Carnoustie.

The satellite location will provide a mix of existing and temporary shooting ranges for the Games to ensure all shooting events take place across one site, making it easier for fans and logistically for athletes and organisers.

WHO?

Last time out in Delhi the home nation effect was in full swing with India taking home top spot on the medal table with an impressive 14 golds. They were understandably less impressive at the Olympics, failing to win more than silver at London 2012 so it will be interesting to see if they can retain top spot on this leaderboard. Five time Commonwealth champion Vijay Kumar - who won his country's only silver in London -  is back to see if he can win gold at a third successive Games.

The home nation banner passes to Scotland this year and they will be intent on improving on fourth place in the medal table this time round. They won four golds in Delhi. Jennifer McIntosh and Jonathan Hammond - both double gold winners in singles and pairs competitions last time - are back for more.

England's Steve Scott won the European Championships last month and will be looking to carry that momentum forward to Glasgow. He also won gold in Delhi four years ago and will be among the favourites to add to his tally later this month.

Singapore's pedigree in shooting has steadily improved over the last decade and shooting accounted for five of their eleven gold medals last time so it will be interesting to see if they can retain their momentum in Glasgow.

The usual suspects, Australia and New Zealand are also strong here. The bronze medals were shared between many nations in Delhi however suggesting a close playing field.
 
LET ME SOUND LIKE I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT...

• Clay target shooting is perhaps the 'classic' style of shooting we are used to seeing in these competitons. It's the one where they shout 'pull' and at London 2012 Peter Wilson gave Great Britain a first Olympic gold since 2000 in the double trap.
• Full bore shooting is only contested at the Commonwealths - competitors can pick which type of gun they use - rifle, pistol or shotgun. A discipline requiring both accuracy and patience.
• Pistol and small bore shooting use the circular targets
• Teams as diverse as Namibia, Bangladesh and the Isle of Man scored bronze medals in the last Commonwealths - this one isn't just for the traditional powers.

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India's five-time Commonwealth champion Vijay Kumar
(biharprabha.com)



Glasgow 2014: One month to go! Elite athletes from across the Commonwealth heading to Scotland

By Steven Oldham

Today marks one month to go to the start of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 20th edition of the Games and biggest sporting event held in the UK since the London 2012 Olympics.

A week ago, myself and the other members of Team 14 were set a challenge to mark the one month to go countdown with one word each, which we were to interpret into our blogs in the way we thought best.

My word is ELITE. As a writer, I thought the best way to use this word was to focus on the elite sporting talent that will be competing in Glasgow this summer.

Across many sports there are household names; Olympic, world and European champions; major tournament competitors with medals from countries all over the Commonwealth.

Here, I preview some of the big names set to compete in Glasgow one month from now. This list is not definitive, and further articles will cover all sports on show at this year's Games.

ATHLETICS

Olympic champion Mo Farah is heading to Glasgow (@BBCSport)

Double Olympic champion Mo Farah leads the English charge in track and field and will be a big draw for fans attending the Games.  The distance runner is the current Olympic and world champion at both 5,000 and 10,000 metres and he will be among the favourites to land yet another medal to his trophy cabinet.

Sprinter Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce is hoping to complete her medal collection in Glasgow - she's never competed at the Commonwealths before and the Jamaican team will be stronger for her presence. A superstar athlete, she holds two Olympic golds and five world titles across three different distances. As yet it's unknown whether Usain Bolt will compete in Glasgow but Jamaica have a strong pedigree even without the megastar. Like Fraser-Pryce, Yohan Blake has Olympic and world gold to his name and if Bolt does not compete, he could lead the island's charge up the medal table.

Grenada's Kirani James heads into the Commonwealths as Olympic 400m champion and will be looking to add to his medal tally here. He has a Commonwealth Youth Games gold in his collection and a senior title is a real possibility. His country have yet to win a gold medal at the Commonwealths but the 21-year-old represents their best chance to change that.

Over the same distance in the hurdles, Wales's reigning Commonwealth champion Dai Greene will hope to retain his title. The 28-year-old, who also counts world and European gold among his medal haul, will be looking to avenge his narrow medal missing performance at London 2012, where he was 0.14 seconds away from a bronze medal.

Australia's Sally Pearson is the proud owner of both an Olympic record and Commonwealth gold in the 100m hurdles and she will be looking to extend her reign over the rest of the Commonwealth. If she is still competing, the next Games are scheduled to take place Gold Coast City in 2018 - where the 27-year-old lives.

Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha will lead Kenya's quest for medals in Glasgow this summer. He is also an African and world champion over the same distance, and hold both world and Olympic records at the mid-distance. He will be key to his country's task of equalling or even bettering their impressive fifth place in the Delhi 2010 medals table.

SWIMMING

The home nation's poster boy is 25-year-old Michael Jamieson who is a silver medallist at both the Olympics and world championships in the 200m breaststroke. He was the star performer in a disappointing Games in the pool for Great Britain two years ago and has said he is better prepared for the Commonwealths both mentally and physically. The Glasgow-born swimmer is bound to get massive support from the home crowd and this may be enough to inspire him to a first senior title.

Michael Jamieson is one of Scotland's best hopes (@sportscotland)

Lauren Boyle will head the New Zealand team's hopes of glory in the pool - last year she won an impressive three bronze medals at the world championships in Barcelona and will be looking to add to her one Commonwealth Games medal so far - earned in the 4x200m relay in Melbourne eight years ago. She missed out on Olympic bronze in 2012 to Rebecca Adlington in the 400m.

CYCLING

The Isle of Man's Mark Cavendish is set to be one of the star turns in the cycling events at this year's Games.  A world champion in both track and road cycling, he also boasts Commonwealth gold from the Melbourne 2006 games and will be looking to again master Glasgow's streets - he won the British title in the city last year.

Many of Great Britain's all conquering cycling team will compete in Glasgow - Laura Trott, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Jason Kenny, Dani King and Ed Clancy will be among England's best medal hopes, while Geraint Thomas will fly the flag for Wales.

Anna Meares, London 2012 Olympic sprint champion, will also look to add to both her own and Australia's impressive Commonwealth medal tally - she has six medals from these events, four of them gold, and Australia are the most successful nation ever in the history of the Games.

Australia's Anna Meares (@EbbeIversen)

DIVING

London 2012 bronze medallist Tom Daley will head a strong English team in Glasgow which also includes world junior champion Jack Laugher and British champion Chris Mears. Hannah Starling and Rebecca Gallantree will look to match the expected achievement of the men's team.

Diving looks to be an area Canada could again do very well in this year, with a trio of bronze medallists from London 2012 leading their team. Partners Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito took third in the 10m sycnrho, an achievement matched by 3m synchro diver Jennifer Abel. The Canadian women have also excelled in the FINA World Series and head to Glasgow hotly tipped as the team to beat, having also topped the medal table in Delhi four years ago.

Canada's Meaghan Benefito could light up Glasgow (@Fina1908)

Malaysia won three medals in diving last time out, and will want to be on the podium again in Glasgow following their most successful games in India four years ago. Canada, Malaysia and Australia again look to be the teams battling for the medals in the women's events.

Other notable entrants include Australia's Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham, who has yet to win gold at the Commonwealths, despite winning four silvers last time out, and Leeds-based Yona Knight-Wisdom, who will make history by becoming Jamaica's first representative in the diving competition.

TRIATHLON

Brothers Alistair and Jonny Brownlee will be among the favourites for triathlon glory this summer. The Englishmen - Olympic champion and bronze medallist respectively - were two of the more unlikely stars of London 2012 thanks to being related and their three-way rivalry with Spaniard Javier Gomez, who stopped a Brownlee 1-2 two years ago.

As well as the Olympics, they have both won the World Triathlon Series, again trading victories with Gomez who sadly will not be able to continue his battle with the Brownlees this summer.

In the ladies event, current WTS chamion Non Stanford will miss out for Wales due to a stress fracture in her ankle, and the Welsh team's loss could be England's gain - WTS runner up Jodie Stimpson could be the woman to beat in Glasgow. Emma Moffatt of Australia - a two time WTS winner - and New Zealand's Commonwealth Games 2006 bronze medal winner Andrea Hewitt will be looking to stop her winning.

BOXING

Northern Ireland topped the medal table in boxing in Delhi four years ago and Commonwealth champion Paddy Barnes is back for another shot at gold in Glasgow.

Boxing was by far Northern Ireland's most successful sport in Delhi, with three gold medals from the boxers hauling the country up to 13th in the medal table.

Barnes, a double Olympic bronze medallist at light flyweight in both 2008 and 2012, is his team's star attraction alongside cyclist Wendy Houvenaghel, herself a world champion and Olympic and Commonwealth medal winner.

India had their best Commonwealth Games to date when hosting in 2010, coming second in the medal table. Like Northern Ireland, boxing contributed three gold medals to their tally and light welterweight champion Manoj Kumar has returned to defend his title. Bronze medallist Vijender Singh will also want to add to his medal collection having been eliminated by the now professional Anthony Ogogo.



Indian boxer Manoj Kumar (@JasvirLota)

Breakout star Nicola Adams will also compete for England. The first women's Olympic boxing champion could be one of the stars of Glasgow 2014 and could again make history as this is the first year women's boxing has been part of the Commonwealth programme.  

This is just a small selection of athletes who can excel in Glasgow this summer. There are always surprise successes - in terms of both athletes and countries outperforming expectations - who will it be this year? How far up the medal table will Scotland go with the 'home nation' effect factored in? There's only one way to find out - and it's now just one month away...