BIRMINGHAM - Emma McKeon equalled Australia’s all-time record of 10 Commonwealth gold medals on Saturday as Scotland’s Duncan Scott avenged his Olympic freestyle defeat at the hands of his friend Tom Dean.
McKeon came to Birmingham with eight golds in two previous editions of the Games -- two behind fellow Australian swimmers Ian Thorpe, Susie O’Neill and Leisel Jones. Two relay golds at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre means the 28-year-old, who won seven medals at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, is now level with her retired compatriots.
McKeon missed out on an 11th gold on Saturday when she finished 0.02sec behind Olympic champion Margaret Mac Neil in the 100m butterfly, with the Canadian setting a new Games record of 56.36sec. But she will have other chances in Birmingham to win an 11th gold.
Scott beat England’s Dean in a thrilling men’s 200m freestyle duel, pulling away from the Olympic champion in the final 50m to win in a time of 1:45.02. Scott, who won silver behind Dean at the Tokyo Games, was forced to withdraw from last month’s world championships in Budapest following a bout of Covid-19 but managed to turn the tables on his friend.
Australia’s Elijah Winnington, who won the 400m freestyle on Friday, was third. Scott returned to the pool to take bronze in the 400m individual medley behind New Zealand gold medallist Lewis Clareburt, who won the race in a new Games record of 4min 8.70sec and silver medallist Brendon Smith of Australia.
England’s Benjamin Proud won the 50m butterfly in a Commonwealth Games record of 22.81sec. The 2014 champion, who was disqualified from the final at the 2018 Gold Coast games after he was deemed to have started early, said he felt unexpectedly emotional. South Africa’s Lara van Niekerk won the women’s 50m freestyle in a Games record time of 29.73sec. Another South African, Pieter Coetze, won the men’s 100m backstroke final in a time of 53.78sec.
Australia, with McKeon on the last leg, won the women’s 4x100m freestyle and rounded off the night in style by winning the men’s event. England star Adam Peaty dominated his semi-final to qualify quickest for Sunday’s final of the 100m breaststroke. The world record-holder was forced to miss last month’s world championships in Budapest with a foot injury.
He posted a time of 59.02sec in the semi-final, nearly a second quicker than his swim in the morning heats. Olympic women’s 100m backstroke champion Kaylee McKeown recorded the second-fastest time in qualifying for Sunday’s final behind Canada’s Kylie Masse.
New Zealand stun Pakistan 4-1 in hockey event
Pakistan’s semifinal hopes went down to the wire as they were stunned by New Zealand 4-1 in their second match of the Commonwealth Games. The defeat means they lost two crucial points and will have to win the remaining two games to reserve a semifinal berth.
No goal was scored in the first quarter while New Zealand dominated the second one, converting two back-to-back goals through Hugo Inglis in the 17th and 18th minutes. A few minutes later, Pakistan’s Ghazanfar Ali netted a field goal to put Pakistan back in the game. Dylan Thomas and Sam Lone then scored one goal each to finish the match at 4-1 in favour of Kiwis. Pakistan will take on Scotland on August 3 in their third match before facing Australia in their last group match on August 4.
India trounce Pakistan by 8 wickets in cricket event
A solid bowling performance followed by a brilliant opening stand between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma helped India to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games cricket event.
Pakistan made a steady start with the bat despite losing an early wicket, but things took a downward curve after Sneh Rana took two wickets in the ninth over to send back set batters Bismah Maroof (17) and Muneeba Ali (32). S Meghana pulled off a direct hit at the non-striker’s end to dismiss Aliya Riaz shortly after Omaima Sohail was also run out.
Bowled out for 99 in the rain-shortened 18-over game, Pakistan had their task cut out with Smriti Mandhana coming out all guns blazing. The left-handed batter along with Shafali Verma batted strongly and helped India complete the run chase with more than eight overs to spare.
McKeon came to Birmingham with eight golds in two previous editions of the Games -- two behind fellow Australian swimmers Ian Thorpe, Susie O’Neill and Leisel Jones. Two relay golds at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre means the 28-year-old, who won seven medals at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, is now level with her retired compatriots.
McKeon missed out on an 11th gold on Saturday when she finished 0.02sec behind Olympic champion Margaret Mac Neil in the 100m butterfly, with the Canadian setting a new Games record of 56.36sec. But she will have other chances in Birmingham to win an 11th gold.
Scott beat England’s Dean in a thrilling men’s 200m freestyle duel, pulling away from the Olympic champion in the final 50m to win in a time of 1:45.02. Scott, who won silver behind Dean at the Tokyo Games, was forced to withdraw from last month’s world championships in Budapest following a bout of Covid-19 but managed to turn the tables on his friend.
Australia’s Elijah Winnington, who won the 400m freestyle on Friday, was third. Scott returned to the pool to take bronze in the 400m individual medley behind New Zealand gold medallist Lewis Clareburt, who won the race in a new Games record of 4min 8.70sec and silver medallist Brendon Smith of Australia.
England’s Benjamin Proud won the 50m butterfly in a Commonwealth Games record of 22.81sec. The 2014 champion, who was disqualified from the final at the 2018 Gold Coast games after he was deemed to have started early, said he felt unexpectedly emotional. South Africa’s Lara van Niekerk won the women’s 50m freestyle in a Games record time of 29.73sec. Another South African, Pieter Coetze, won the men’s 100m backstroke final in a time of 53.78sec.
Australia, with McKeon on the last leg, won the women’s 4x100m freestyle and rounded off the night in style by winning the men’s event. England star Adam Peaty dominated his semi-final to qualify quickest for Sunday’s final of the 100m breaststroke. The world record-holder was forced to miss last month’s world championships in Budapest with a foot injury.
He posted a time of 59.02sec in the semi-final, nearly a second quicker than his swim in the morning heats. Olympic women’s 100m backstroke champion Kaylee McKeown recorded the second-fastest time in qualifying for Sunday’s final behind Canada’s Kylie Masse.
New Zealand stun Pakistan 4-1 in hockey event
Pakistan’s semifinal hopes went down to the wire as they were stunned by New Zealand 4-1 in their second match of the Commonwealth Games. The defeat means they lost two crucial points and will have to win the remaining two games to reserve a semifinal berth.
No goal was scored in the first quarter while New Zealand dominated the second one, converting two back-to-back goals through Hugo Inglis in the 17th and 18th minutes. A few minutes later, Pakistan’s Ghazanfar Ali netted a field goal to put Pakistan back in the game. Dylan Thomas and Sam Lone then scored one goal each to finish the match at 4-1 in favour of Kiwis. Pakistan will take on Scotland on August 3 in their third match before facing Australia in their last group match on August 4.
India trounce Pakistan by 8 wickets in cricket event
A solid bowling performance followed by a brilliant opening stand between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma helped India to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games cricket event.
Pakistan made a steady start with the bat despite losing an early wicket, but things took a downward curve after Sneh Rana took two wickets in the ninth over to send back set batters Bismah Maroof (17) and Muneeba Ali (32). S Meghana pulled off a direct hit at the non-striker’s end to dismiss Aliya Riaz shortly after Omaima Sohail was also run out.
Bowled out for 99 in the rain-shortened 18-over game, Pakistan had their task cut out with Smriti Mandhana coming out all guns blazing. The left-handed batter along with Shafali Verma batted strongly and helped India complete the run chase with more than eight overs to spare.
