MEDAL RUSH
Second big night for NZ
The New Zealand cycling Commonwealth Games medal chest was boosted by three further discs at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome last night.
Natasha Hansen earned silver in the individual sprint, Dylan Kennett took bronze in the individual pursuit and Eddie Dawkins secured bronze in the Keirin final to complete the evening programme. That takes New Zealand’s track haul to six medals — one gold, three silvers and two bronzes.
Hansen’s best-of-three semifinal against Lauriane Genest was the sort they might use on a skite reel to promote the sport.
The New Zealander had the better of the Canadian in the opening race where she engaged in a cat-and-mouse duel before looming like a black shadow over her opponent in the final lap to win by 0.052s.
Genest demonstrated her pluck in the second race as she emerged from the inside lane to sneak ahead by 0.012s.
The decider was a doozy as the pair attempted to outmuscle each other into the straight. The tyres crossed the line in a flash, the wheel spokes almost in alignment.
Hansen, channelling Top Gun in her reflective black riding helmet, held on by 0.001s. New Zealand fans should be thankful Genest didn’t have any extra air in her front tyre. That infinitesimal margin guaranteed Hansen silver or gold; otherwise she risked bronze or nothing.
Australian Stephanie Morton defended her Glasgow title 2-0 against Hansen, who became the third New Zealand woman after Sue Willis in 1990 and Donna Wynd in 1994 to secure a medal in the event.
Hansen’s success came after claiming silver in the previous day’s team event with Emma Cumming. The 28-year-old earlier broke her own national record in the 200m flying lap, recording 10.760s and qualifying behind only Morton and Genest.
Dylan Kennett took bronze in the men’s individual pursuit after smashing his personal best by 6.131s in qualifying.
He set a new national mark of 4m 13.414s, overtaking the 4m 15.988s effort that his coach Jesse Sergent set at the 2010 world championships at Copenhagen.
Sergent patrolled his charge’s performance trackside in the ride-off against Australian Jordan Kerby.
Kennett held a 2.035s advantage at the halfway mark before extending it to all but the final lap. With the finish line in his sights, the Kiwi rider switched from pedal-powered torpedo to channel his best mamil (middleaged man in lycra) over the final 100m when he realised he was on the same straight as his opponent. He put an arm in the air and rose from his aerodynamic position in a statement which oozed confidence. England’s Charlie Tanfield defeated Scotland’s John Archibald by 0.704s in the final.
Team sprint champions Dawkins and Sam Webster lined up in the Keirin, an event where Webster won silver four years ago.
This time, it was Dawkins’ turn to shine. He held his nerve as the field threatened to box him in the final stanzas and had enough power to shoot through 0.168s adrift of Australian Matthew Glaetzer. Welshman Lewis Oliva was second, with Webster fifth.
Earlier, New Zealand’s individual pursuiters fell short of the medal rides, with Kirstie James and Ellesse Andrews qualifying fifth and sixth respectively.
The top four, headed by Scotland’s Katie Archibald, all went under the previous Games record. The third Kiwi in the field, Bryony Botha, qualified ninth.
● Lewis Clareburt claimed New Zealand’s first swimming medal in stunning fashion at the Commonwealth Games last night.
The 18-year-old shone to claim bronze in the 400m individual medley, starting strongly and holding on to shock his more experienced counterparts.
Clareburt finished in a national record time of 4m 14.42s, 1.3s behind the gold medallist, Australia’s Clyde Lewis. The Wellingtonian shattered his personal best by more than four seconds, and was stoked by his performance.
“To get a bronze first up, first ever open international competition — it’s awesome. I just followed my plan, it’s all I needed to do. I thought about my own race, did everything I needed to do, and that’s how I got a medal.”
Clareburt led briefly and was fourth going into the final 100m but finished strongly over his freestyle leg, driving to the line despite not knowing where he was placed.
“I didn’t know how many people were in front of me — I had no idea where I was. It was good to look up at the board and see I was third place with a four second PB, nothing can go better than that.”
Fellow Kiwi Bradlee Ashby led through the first 150m but couldn’t hold on, finishing fifth, four seconds outside the medals.
Elsewhere on finals day in the pool, the
4x100m relay team of Daniel Hunter, Sam Perry, Corey Main and Matthew Stanley finished fourth in 3m 16.60s, 0.74s behind the third-placed Scots.
Hunter and Perry finished fifth and sixth respectively in the 50m butterfly, while Main placed seventh in the 100m backstroke.
Para-swimmers Chris Arbuthnott, Jesse Reynolds and Tupou Neiufi all also missed the medals in their finales.
“Don’t worry guys, I had my tetanus shot.”
It wasn’t nearly Mike Tyson on Evander Holyfield but David Nyika brushed off his own biting incident to easily progress through his first round fight at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games last night.
Four years ago, Nyika secured gold as a light heavyweight in Glasgow but has since moved up to the 91kg heavyweight ranks. In his first bout here, he claimed a unanimous 5-0 points win over Antigua and Barbuda’s Yakita Aska but the messy fight was overshadowed with Nyika saying he was bitten on his chest.
“It wasn’t my best performance but I put that down to my opponent being quite negative. I was ready to put on a clinic and showcase my potential. He wouldn’t exchange properly; he ducked his head, he bit me, he hit me below the belt,” Nyika, the 22-year-old from Hamilton, said. “He apologised after the bout. It was an intentional bite and he knows it but that’s the sport, it’s kill or be killed.”
With both fighters wearing mouthguards Aska’s bite didn’t pierce the skin. Nyika didn’t seem too perturbed when he joked in a post on social media afterwards saying not to worry because he had his tetanus shot.
Despite the controversy, Nyika was pleased to progress.
“It was a wake-up call and my next one will be much more clinical and I’ll keep a level head.”
Nyika faces Cameroon’s Christian Ndzie Tsoye in Tuesday’s quarter-finals, with a possible semifinal against England’s Cheavon Clarke, an opponent he knows well from his time with the British Lionhearts in the World Series Boxing.
Silver Ferns struggle again
It took a while but the Silver Ferns eventually eased clear to beat Wales 70-43 in their second match of the Commonwealth Games, but it was far from convincing.
The Silver Ferns arrived on the Gold Coast having won just three of their previous 11 matches and on the back of a 13-goal win over Uganda on Thursday night. The second quarter epitomised New Zealand’s troubles of late, where they were all over the place defensively and toothless in attack, getting outscored 13-9 by the 10thranked side in the world.
After rushing out to a quick 10-1 run in the third quarter, the Ferns managed to steady the ship and were ultimately too strong for the Welsh.
Te Paea Selby-Rickit led the scoring for New Zealand with 28 goals, shooting 90 per cent from the field, while Kelly Jury put in typically strong performance in defence.
Next up is a tricky match against the Malawi Queens and coach Janine Southby admitted the players need to keep their foot down.
Hectic ride for Patterson
Glasgow to the Gold Coast has been a hectic fouryear ride for Phillipa Patterson, and with plans for a second baby, this may be her last Commonwealth Games.
Since finishing fifth in the 53kg class in Glasgow, Patterson married weightlifting husband Richie, welcomed two-year-old son Cooper, ran a gym on Auckland’s North Shore and trained for her second Commonwealth Games, again in the 53kg class.
She deserves a medal just for surviving such a schedule.
While Patterson left the Carrara Sports & Leisure Centre stage yesterday without such a symbol of success around her neck, she was satisfied with the 171kg total which placed her sixth in a field of 14.
“It’s where I expected to be. I was a little bit disappointed to miss one of my snatches but that’s how it goes,” Patterson said after her 76kg snatch and 95kg clean and jerk.
The 33-year-old’s competitive weightlifting future now appears uncertain. Asked about future plans, she said: “Maybe baby No 2.”
In his fourth Games, Richie steps up to the bar in the 85kg class today.
Sticks make good start
A 6-2 beating of Canada has given the men’s Black Sticks a good start to their Commonwealth Games campaign, while the women have carried on their strong early form with a victory over Ghana last night.
Their 12-0 win over the African nation follows their 6-1 win over Scotland and has them off and running in their bid for gold later in the Games.
Ghana, ranked 30th in the world compared to No 4 New Zealand, were gallant through the first three quarters before falling apart near the end.
The most significant of the 12 was Anita McLaren’s first which was her 100th goal for New Zealand, the first player to the milestone.
New Zealand next face Canada on Sunday morning before finishing their pool play against world No 5 Australia on Monday night.
The No 9 men’s Black Sticks were well worth the win. In a productive third quarter New Zealand raced out to a 5-1 advantage with Stephen Jenness, George Muir and Dane Lett getting on the scoresheet.