Key events
Netball
Things are getting very interesting in The Hydro, where Northern Ireland are fighting back. At the end of quarter three, the score is Malawai 44-38 Northern Ireland.
Weightlifting: Mirabai Chanu sets new Games record
Time to check in with the women’s 48kg weightlifting. These were the standings after the snatch, during which Mirabai Chanu Saikhom set a new Commonwealth Games record.
85kg Mirabai Chanu Saikhom (India)
77kg Irene Jane Henry (Malaysia)
75kg Ruth Asuquo Nyong (Nigeria)
71kg Tammy Wong (England)
70kg Nikole Roberts (Wales), Jo-Beth Deireragea (Nauru)
Reuben Ward, right hand placed on his heart, belts out Flower of Scotland during the men’s all-round medal ceremony. Just imagine how alive he feels right now.
Our medal table has been updated after Reuben Ward’s triumph
Women’s netball Malawi consolidates their lead against Northern Ireland in the second quarter; the score is now 35-23.
Idi Amin’s grandson vows to be ‘new king of Scotland’
Boxing A bit of news here from the Press Association wires. If Aziz Abdul walks the talk, I fear for his opponents.
England super-heavyweight Damar Thomas must overcome the grandson of Idi Amin, the former Ugandan dictator and self-proclaimed “King of Scotland”, if he is to progress into the medal rounds of Commonwealth Games boxing competition in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Aziz Abdul, known as ‘Ringo’, is not shy of his family connection to Amin, a brutal military dictator who seized power in 1971, killing up to 500,000 people and expelling Uganda’s entire Asian population before he was deposed and sent into exile eight years later.
Amin was an accomplished boxer who held the Ugandan light-heavyweight title for nine consecutive years from 1951 to 1960. Having lost a bout to rival Peter Sseruwagi in 1958, he orchestrated a rematch after becoming president, delivering a staged knockout of his opponent while still wearing his suit jacket and tie.
“My grandfather’s achievements inspired me,” 25-year-old Aziz said. “He was a heavyweight boxer like myself, and I am so proud of him. Lions give back to lions. A lion cannot give back to a dog or a camel. A lion must resemble a lion. It is what it is. I am a real warrior. I am the son of the son.”
Amin proclaimed himself king of Scotland in 1976, having developed a fascination with the country during his time serving in the King’s African Rifles regiment in his twenties. His remark inspired an Oscar-winning film, The Last King Of Scotland, starring the Glasgow-born actor James McAvoy.
Aziz says he will rely on his mysterious ‘Ringo Punch’ to get the job done before the judges get the chance to intervene, making good on the advice of Amin, who once famously advised that “the only way to defeat an enemy who is against the country is to win by knockout”.
“I know the British heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, but my idol is Mike Tyson: the baddest man on the planet. If I win the gold medal, I will be the baddest man in the Commonwealth, the baddest man in Glasgow, and the new king of Scotland.”
Yara El-Shaboury
Netball: Australia 66-47 England
Eight years after England’s dramatic last-gasp triumph over Australia on the Gold Coast, netball’s greatest Commonwealth rivalry was renewed in Glasgow. But this time there was no fairytale finish for the Roses as the defending champion produced a ruthless display to dismantle England 66-47 at the Hydro, the Diamonds extending their record against this opposition at the Games to seven wins from eight meetings.
Ever since Helen Housby’s last-second winner stunned the Diamonds in the 2018 final, every meeting between these two heavyweights has carried extra edge. Australia gained a measure of revenge by beating England on the way to gold in Birmingham four years ago and Sunday’s Commonwealth Games pool clash was another marker of where the sport’s fiercest rivalry stands.
Australia were quicker, sharper and more clinical from the opening whistle, with their star-studded attack of Sophie Garbin
The men’s all-around final
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Gold Reuben Ward (Sco) 79.650
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Silver Felix Dolci (Can) 79.450
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Bronze Jesse Moore (Aus) 79.000
Marios Georgiou (Cyp) 78.950, Adam Tobin (Eng) 78.800
Reuben Ward wins gold for Scotland!
Felix Dolci almost pipped Ward with a remarkable 14.500. He comes from nowhere to take silver – but Reuben Ward, on his Commonwealth Games debut, has become the first man to win Commonwealth gold for Scotland in the all-around!
Jesse Moore is now into second after scoring 12.600. He looks surprised by that. It means Adam Tobin has dropped off the podium.
Marios Georgiou of Cyprus has moved above Adam Tobin into second after a stunning score of 13.500 on the horizontal bar.
Jesse Moore shakes his head after the floor exercise – he knows he hasn’t done enough.
Ward scores 12.700, which lifts his total to 79.650. Jesse Moore is on 66.400 with the floor exercise still to come.
There are huge cheers as Reuben Ward steps forward – and even louder cheers when he finishes, having surely done enough to secure an historic gold.
Adam Tobin, in third place going into the final rotation, nails the horizonal bar, scoring 13.050, and has surely secured a bronze at the very least.
Canada’s William Emard has faded from medal contention after scoring 12.300 on the horizontal bar – he finishes a fraction below Whitehouse.
A score of 12.900 on the horizontal bar means Luke Whitehouse finishes with a score of 77.300.
Men’s all-around It’s time for the final rotation in the gymnastic, with Scotland’s Reuben Ward hoping to take gold.
Women’s netball Malawi lead Northern Ireland 17-7 with a couple of minutes to play in the first quarter.
Reuben Ward’s bonus has been changed on appeal, which means his overall score is now 66.950.
The men’s all-around leaderboard
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66.850 Reuben Ward (Sco)
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66.400 Jesse Moore (Aus)
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65.750 Adam Tobin (Eng)
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64.950 Felix Dolci (Can), William Emard (Can)
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64.400 Luke Whitehouse (Eng)
An emotional Reuben Ward conducts the crowd after scoring 13.650 on the parallel bars – he’s in gold-medal position with one visit remaining.
England’s Adam Tobin moves above Felix Dolci and William Emard with a score of 13.300 on the parallel bars.
A fall for Canada’s William Emard, and a consequent score of 12.500, has damaged his medal hopes.
Thanks Daniel, hello everyone. Luke Whitehouse has scored 13.250 on the parallel bars – an improvement on qualification, but he is surely out of medal contention.
…and 14.100 is a very sound effort, the highest single mark so far. Otherwise, though, the great Rob Smyth is here chill with you for the next couple of hours; see you again after that.
Moore of Australia, in fourth place and on the bar, razzes out a really nifty routine, and that’ll keep him in the medal conversation. Let’s see his score…
At the end of the fourth rotation, Scotland’s Ward leads the nastics, from Canada’s Emard, from England’s Tobin, equal on points in joint-second, 0.750 behind. Moore of Australia is fourth, a further 0.150 off the pace.
Felix Dolci, trying to move up the rankings after falling off the horse, bounds into the vault, nails a 14.200 triple somesault, and he’s eighth.
Yup yup, Ward manages 14.100 to lead Emard and Tobin by 0.750.
Righto, here comes Ward on the vault, and can he find the biggun he needs? It looks pretty good to me, a triple twist with just a little step on landing, and I reckon that’ll take him back in front.
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