England hit new medals high in style
ENGLAND secured men’s hockey bronze by beating South Africa 6-3 in a remarkable contest at the University of Birmingham.
South Africa twice led in the second quarter but goals from Rhys Smith, Liam Ansell, Sam Ward, Zach Wallace, as well as a Phil Roper double, produced some reward after semi-final despair against Australia.
Matthew Guise-Brown, Mustapha Cassiem and Nqobile Ntuli were on target for visitors, who ran out of steam in the final two quarters.
Skipper Wallace said: “Six months ago we did not have a coach and we were a demotivated group after Tokyo with the way that went in the quarter-final.
“I think there is huge excitement building around England hockey, both the men’s and the women’, and we are definitely on the right track going towards Paris 2024.”
ENGLAND suffered triple disappointment on the final day of badminton action.
Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith were beaten 21-16 21-15 in the mixed doubles gold medal match by Singapore pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan.
Ben Lane and Sean Vendy were next to lose as Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty claimed a 21-15 21-13 victory in the men’s doubles.
Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah beat Chloe Birch and Smith 21-5 21-8 in a women’s doubles final that lasted just 33 minutes.
DECLAN James claimed gold in the men’s squash doubles just two months after a three-inch tear in his quad.
James and playing partner James Willstrop defeated English compatriots Daryl Selby and Adrian Waller 11-3 7-11 11-9 in an epic final.
The winning moment was a poignant one for James, who dropped his racket and sank to his knees at the end of the gold medal match before embracing Willstrop.
ANDREA Spendolini-Sirieix clinched her second gold of the Games in the mixed synchronised 10m platform.
The 17-year-old had already won gold in the 10m platform and silver in the synchronised event.
She partnered Noah Williams to victory in Sandwell with a score of 333.06 as England team-mates Kyle Kothari and Lois Toulson claimed silver.
That helped push Team England to their biggest Commonwealth Games medal haul ever, beating Glasgow’s tally of 174.