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: DAY 2: More success for England and Scotland, Cyprus win first ever weightlifting gold, Welsh athlete banned for doping violation

England's Chris Walker-Hebborn broke the Games record in 100m backstroke
(@NickHopeBBC)

By Steven Oldham
 
England and Scotland continued to rack up the medals on day two of the Commonwealths, with the hosts already well on their way to their best ever Games.
 
Medal-events in cycling, swimming, judo, gymnastics, shooting and weightlifting were settled today, and preliminary rounds continued in bowls, hockey, netball, squash and boxing.
 
There was more bad news for a Wales team already hit by injury and suspension, with hurdler Rhys Williams banned from the Games after failing a drugs test.

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Chris Walker-Hebborn broke the Commonwealth record while winning the 100m backstroke for England, just hours after teenager Ben Proud had won the country's first gold in the pool by taking victory in the 50m butterfly earlier in the day. Proud beat Olympic champion Chad le Clos in both the semi and final, with the South African having to settle for third.
 
Judo continues to be a happy hunting ground for Team England, who continue to top the medal table. Three more gold today came in for both male and female judoka, with Owen Livesey beating team-mate and room-mate Tom Reed in the final of the -81kg weight class. Danny Williams (-73kg) and Megan Fletcher (-70kg) also won their respective events to leave England with an impressive six medals in the sport already.
 
Joanna Roswell won the individual pursuit to secure a second English title in track cycling, and set a new Commonwealth record in the qualifiers, and beat her Australian opponent by nearly four seconds in the final.
 

The moment Sarah Clark won judo gold for Scotland (Daily Record)

 
 

Scotland's success in the pool continued with Daniel Wallace securing a stunning breakthrough win in the 400m medley ahead of Thomas Fraser-Holmes (Australia) and Sebastian Rousseau (South Africa).
 
Hometown favourite Michael Jamieson however is out of the 100m breaststroke after being eliminated in the semi finals where he could only place fifth. Compatriot and new 200m champion Ross Murdoch is safely through.
 
The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome also saw it's first homegrown champion in the para-cycling today. Neil Fachie and pilot Craig Maclean won the 1000m tandem time trial for visually impaired riders from teams from Australia and Wales.
 
Judoka Sarah Clark became the third Scottish woman to win gold on the mat by beating Cameroon's Helene Wezeu Dombeu in the -63kg weight class by making her opponent submit via an armlock.
 

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Cyprus won their first gold at these Games in weightlifting, with Dimitris Minasidis taking victory in the -62kg. He raised 276kg ahead of lifters from Sri Lanka and Samoa.  
 
He makes history by becoming the island's first Commonwealth weightlifting champion.
 


Cyprus' Dimitris Minasidis lifting for gold (BBC Sport)
 

DAY TWO DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS...

• Commonwealth powerhouse Australia also continued to pile up the medals, taking more gold in swimming and opening their account in shooting.
• Canada continue to dominate the rhythmic gymnastics, with Patricia Bezzoubenko winning her second gold in as many days in the individual all round event.
• Team Wales also put in a good show in rhythmic gymnastics, with flagbearer Frankie Jones and Laura Halford taking bronze today after team silver yesterday
• Nigeria also scooped a first gold of the Games in women's weightlifting, as Chika Amalaha won the -53kg weight division
• Singapore, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea all opened their medal tallies today.

DAY 3: WHAT'S UP FOR GRABS?

Mixed team triathlon makes it Games debut tomorrow, can England continue their dominace?

There are also medals to be decided in lawn bowls, rhythmic gymastics, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming and weightlifting. 



Glasgow 2014: DAY 1: Hosts Scotland off to golden start as 20th Commonwealth Games get under way



Scotland's Hannah Miley broke her own Commonwealth record in the
400m medley in front of a home crowd
(Getty Images)

By Steven Oldham

Glasgow 2014 kicked off today with a flurry of gold medals for host nation Scotland, England and Australia.

Medal events in swimming, cycling, judo, triathlon, weightlifting and rhythmic gymnastics meant the opening day got off to an action-packed start.

Host nation Scotland did well in the pool, with Hannah Miley breaking her own Commonwealth record in the 400m medley, retaining the title she won in Delhi four years ago.

There was also success in the men's 200m breaststroke, but not for Glasgow's poster boy Michael Jamieson - 20-year-old Ross Murdoch upstaged the more experienced swimmer and took his Games record to add salt to the wound. Jamieson cut a dejected figure afterwards despite taking silver.

Sisters Kimberley and Louise Renicks also both took gold in judo, in the -48kg and -52kg weight classes respectively. Kimberley overcome Indian judoka Sushila Likmabam, with Louise beating Kelly Edwards by disqualification after the Englishwoman collected too many penalties.

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England head into day two top of the medal table, claiming an impressive six gold medals on the opening day.

Triathlete Jodie Stimpson took the first gold medal of the 2014 Games and she was soon joined on top of the podium by Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee.  England dominated the competition,  taking four of the six medals, including silver for Alistair's younger brother Jonny.



England's Ashley McKenzie on the way to gold
(BBC Sport)

England also had a great opening day in judo, with London 2012 Olympians Colin Oates and Ashley McKenzie both scooping gold, in the -66kg and -60kg weight classes.  Nekoda Davis won the final gold of the night, beating home favourite Stephanie Inglis in the -57kg final, a result which helped tip the medals table further in England's favour.

In the para-cycling, Sophie Thornhill and pilot Helen Stott won tandem sprint gold in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, beating Scotland's Aileen McGlynn and Louise Haston 2-0 in a best-of-three final.

Sir Bradley Wiggins' return to track cycling saw Commonwealth gold elude him once more as the 4,000m team pursuit team were well beaten in the end by Australia in the final, leaving Wiggins with four silver medals from the Friendly Games.

Australia took three golds in the pool, including a stunning new world record time for the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, beating the former record holding Dutch team's time by nearly a second, with England and Canada second and third.

The team from Down Under also found success in the velodrome, winning both the 4,000m men's team pursuit, and the legendary Anna Meares won the 500m time trial ahead of team-mate Stephanie Morton. Meares also set a new Games record in winning and now boasts five Commonwealth gold medals among her medal collection.



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Canada took gold in the rhythmic gymnastics team event ahead of Wales and Malaysia, and also picked up gold in the pool thanks to Ryan Cochrane's victory in the 400m freestyle, retaining the title he won four years ago.

India also took two gold medals on the opening day, both in weightlifting, with the team picking up four of six available medals. Sukhen Dey (56kg) and Khumukchanu Sanjita (48kg) are now both Commonwealth champions, and the team have already matched their gold tally in this sport from their home Games four years ago.

So, what's up for grabs on day two? Shooting gets underway, There are also more medals in swimming, judo, track cycling and weightlifting. Many eyes will be on Michael Jamieson to see if he can bounce back in the 100m event.

Glasgow 2014 - Commonwealth Games Sports Guide: Judo

By Steven Oldham

Judo is making only its third appearance at the Commonwealth Games since debuting in 1990 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Dropped until 2002, judo fans have had to wait another twelve years for it to return to the programme due to it's status as an optional sport, and it will be dropped again for the Gold Coast Games in 2018, where basketball will return instead.

Despite an on-and-off love affair with the Commonwealths, it's proved a hit with Scottish fans as there are no tickets left for judo events in Glasgow.

WHEN?

The judo competition is one of the first to finish, running from July 24-26, with medal events on all three days of competition. 

WHERE?

Judo is one of six sports to be held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.

WHO?

Given that it's twelve years since the last Commonwealth tournament, it's probably more relevant to look at more recent competitions.

Gemma Gibbons was one of the surprise stars of London 2012 when she won silver for Great Britain in the half-heavyweight division. Representing England at the Commonwealths, she will be looking to improve on her performance at the world championships last year where she was eliminated in the pool stages. Cheered on by a British crowd she could be one to watch.

Someone who will be watching Gemma's match closely is husband Euan Burton, who is now a Team GB and Scotland veteran, and is retiring this summer. A multiple world and European bronze medallist, he is the most successful member of Britain's judo team in history and few would begrudge him a Commonwealth medal to add to his collection.

The only other Commonwealth nation to medal at the last Olympics was Canada. They've also won two golds and an impressive 18 medals in the previous two Commonwealths so will surely be near the top of the leaderboard again.

LET ME SOUND LIKE I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT...

• Someone who practices the sport is called a judoka
• Judo originated in Japan in the 19th century
• The aim is to throw or takedown your opponent or make them submit.
• There are seven weight categories each for men and women so there are 14 gold medals available
• To win a contest, you either have to successfully complete an ippon - a throw that takes down your opponent with authority - this ends the contest - or two waza-ari - throws that land the opponent on their  back but with less force. The least valuable throws are ones that land your opponent on their side - a yuko - and these never finish contests. Ties that finish level are resolved by golden score - or sudden death.

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Can Gemma Gibbons repeat her Olympic success?
(telegraph.co.uk)