Australian duo Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett won their Pool B clash with Rwanda in the Men's Beach Volleyball. (Photo: Birmingham2022.com; Design: Will Cuckson)
There were highlights aplenty on Day Six of the Commonwealth Games, with Australia continuing to extend its medal tally across a wide range of events.
Athletics – Track
The men’s 800m heats kicked off last night and Australians Charlie Hunter and Peter Bol both featured. Hunter, in his first ever Commonwealth Games, finished in fifth place for his heat, ultimately falling short of qualification for the final.
Meanwhile, Bol looked incredibly comfortable in Heat 2, cruising to first place with a time of 1:47.01. Bol’s encouraging performance has catapulted him straight into Sunday’s final.
In the men’s 400m event, Steven Solomon booked himself a spot in the semi-finals, reaching the finishing line in second place with a time of 45.98.
It was also a big night for Australia in the men’s 100m sprint, with Rohan Browning becoming the first Australian to qualify for the final of this event since 2010. Browning (10.17s) finished second in his semi-final heat to qualify sixth-fasted for the final.
The 24-year-old then proceeded to record a time of 10.20s in the final, finishing in sixth place.
Fellow Australian Jake Doran fell short of qualification for the final, finishing eighth in his semi-final heat.
The women’s 100m sprint semi-finals saw Naa Anang finish fifth in the second semi-final, followed by a sixth-placed run from Bree Masters in the last of the semi-finals.
In the women’s 10,000m final, Isobel Batt-Doyle recorded a finishing time of 32:04.52 to end the race in eighth position. This was Batt-Doyle’s first ever Commonwealth Games final.
Meanwhile, Evan O’Hanlon made it back-to-back gold medals in the men’s T37/38 100m final, crossing the finishing line with a time of 11.23s.
Athletics – Field
Taneille Crase put her best foot forward in the women’s heptathlon on Day Six.
Crase jumped a personal best of 6.23m in the long jump to maintain her third placed position in the overall standings. This was backed up with a steady performance in the javelin, recording a 37.95m throw.
Meanwhile, the 800m race saw the 27-year-old produce a personal best time of 2:16.40 to cross the finish line in fifth place. She finished fifth overall in the event.
The men’s high jump final was a rollercoaster for defending champion Brandon Starc, who overcame what appeared to be a slight injury niggle to win the silver medal.
Starc cleared both 2.19m and 2.22m on his final attempt, before clearing 2.25m alongside gold medallist, Hamish Kerr who ultimately won the event on a countback.
Badminton
In the mixed doubles, Australian duo Angela Yu and Tran Hoang Pham progressed past the Round of 64 with a 2-0 victory over Soraye March and Dwight Joshua from the Falkland Islands.
Fellow Australians Gronya Somerville and Ying Xiang Lin also won their match-up in this event.
Three Australians participated in the men’s singles event. Nathan Tang defeated Sammy Mdogo Sikoyo (Kenya) 2-0, Ying Xiang Lin beat Malta’s Matthew Abela 2-0, whilst Jacob Schueler fell short in his clash with Samuel Ricketts from Jamaica.
There were two pairs of Aussies involved in the women’s doubles action, both of which advanced past the Round of 32 without dropping a game. Gronya Somerville and Hsuan-Yu Chen defeated Pakistani duo Ghazala Siddique and Mahoor Shahzad, whilst Angela Yu and Kaitlyn Ea beat the Maldives.
Beach Volleyball
Australians Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett continued their men’s beach volleyball campaign against Rwanda overnight.
The Aussies recorded a straight-sets win (21-16, 21-18) to finish atop of Pool B and advance to the quarterfinals.
Boxing
Kaye Scott faced off against Zainab Keita (Sierra Leone) in a quarterfinal clash in the 66kg-70kg (light-middleweight) division. Scott won each of the three rounds unanimously, booking herself a spot in the semi-finals and also a guaranteed bronze medal in the process.
Caitlin Anne Parker followed suit, winning her quarterfinal contest against Elizabeth Adhiambo Andiego of Kenya in the 70kg-75-kg (middleweight) division.
Callum Peters also advanced past the quarterfinals of the 71kg-75kg (middleweight) division, defeating Desmond Cort Amsterdam (Guyana) inside two rounds.
Cricket
The Australian women’s cricket team made it three wins on the trot in its Commonwealth Games campaign, cruising to a 44-run win over Pakistan.
After winning to the toss and electing to bat first, Australia struggled to generate any momentum early in its batting innings, losing the wickets of both Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning within the opening six overs.
However, a mammoth 141-run unbeaten partnership between Beth Mooney (70* runs off 49 balls) and Tahlia McGrath (78* runs off 51 balls) put any potential concerns to bed, guiding the Aussies to a total of 2-160 off their allotted 20 overs.
With the ball, right-arm seamers Megan Schutt (1-29 off four overs) and Darcie Brown (1-23 off four overs) both picked up an early wicket, before talented all-rounder McGrath backed up her superb batting knock with figures of 3-13 off 3 overs.
Australia’s victory means that they top Group A and advance to the Semi-Finals.
More Commonwealth Games News
Birmingham 2022: Daily Dolphins – Day Six
Birmingham 2022: McGrath leads Australia to a dominant victory over Pakistan
Birmingham 2022: Medal Recap – Day Five
Cycling – Mountain Bike
The men’s cross-country final saw Australians Sam Fox and Daniel McConnell perform valiantly in what is a gruelling event.
The pair remained close together for the majority of the race, ultimately finishing in sixth and seventh position respectively.
This was followed by a terrific silver medal winning performance from Zoe Cuthbert in the women’s cross-country Final, who only trailed England’s Evie Richards.
Hockey
The Hockeyroos put together another impressive performance against Scotland last night, recording a comfortable 2-0 win to secure top spot in Pool B and remain undefeated across their opening four matches of their Commonwealth Games campaign.
Australia began the game on the front foot, creating numerous chances and dominating field position. After failing to score a goal during the first quarter, the Hockeyroos eventually broke the deadlock just before half time, courtesy of Grace Stewart.
Shanea Tonkin, who is enjoying a brilliant Commonwealth Games debut, doubled Australia’s advantage in the final quarter. No further goals were added for the remainder of the contest, with Scotland prevented from registering a single shot on goal.
Remarkably, the Hockeyroos are still yet to concede in Birmingham.
The Kookaburras also tasted victory during their Pool A clash with South Africa, running away with a commanding 3-0 win.
First-quarter goals from Jake Whetton and Aran Zalewski gave the Kookaburras the perfect start, before Blake Gowers got his name on the scoresheet in the final quarter to seal the win.
Australia’s result means that they remain undefeated thus far in Birmingham. The team will next face Pakistan in their final group stage match.
Judo
There were four Australians vying for medals in the Judo events on Day Six of the Games.
Abigail Paduch defeated Sarah Hawkes from Northern Ireland in the women’s +78kg quarterfinals, before ultimately tasting defeat in her semi-final clash with Scotland’s Sarah Adlington.
However, Paduch responded well to clinch the bronze medal, defeating Gabriella Wood of Trinidad and Tobago.
Liam Park (men’s +100kg) and Harrison Cassar (men’s -90kg) experienced a similar fate, prevailing in their quarter-final encounters, only to fall short in their subsequent semi-final contests against Marc Deschenes (Canada) and Remi Feuillet (Mauritius) respectively.
Yet just like Paduch, both bounced back in their bronze medal matches to earn themselves a place on the podium.
Kayhan Ozcicek-Takagi failed to advance past the quarterfinals in the men’s -100kg event, succumbing to defeat against England’s Rhys Thompson.
Lawn Bowls
Kristina Krstic and Ellen Ryan secured successive victories in Group D of the women’s pairs. The Australian duo defeated both Wales (21-15) and Canada (40-6) on Day Six.
Aaron Wilson also tasted success, winning his men’s singles match against Cephas Kimwaki Kimani (Bangladesh) 21-13.
Serena Bonnell and 63-year-old Cheryl Lindfield competed in the para women’s pairs B6-B8 gold medal match. They were unable to secure the win, succumbing to a 5-17 defeat against Scotland. Nevertheless, the pair have attained a well-deserved silver medal.
In the women’s triples, Australia had a mixed bag of results, defeating the Falkland Islands (29-8) before going on to lose to South Africa (12-17) in its Group A matches. Lynsey Clarke, Natasha van Eldik and Rebecca van Asch are representing Australia in this event.
The Australian men’s fours team had little joy during their Group B encounters, having been defeated by both Canada (6-19) and Northern Ireland (8-12).
Meanwhile, Helen Boardman and Jake Fehlberg got the job done against South Africa in the para mixed pairs B2/B3 event, winning their match 16-12.
Squash
Australian duo Zac Alexander and Rachael Grinham enjoyed a successful day in the mixed doubles. The pair comfortably progressed past the Round of 32, accounting for the Cayman Islands with a scoreline of 2-0.
It was a similar story for Aussies Cameron Pilley and Donna Lobban, who defeated Papua New Guinea’s Feonor Siaguru and Amity Alarcos without dropping a game.
Swimming
Neither Se-Bom Lee or Brendon Smith were able to secure a medal in the men’s 200m individual medley final. In a highly competitive race, Smith (1:59.57) finished in fifth place, whilst Lee (1:59.86) followed close behind in sixth.
In the women’s 200m freestyle S14 final, Australians Madeleine McTernan (2:13.89), Ruby Storm (2:15.75) and Jade Lucy (2:16.64) finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.
However, the first medals won by Australia in the pool on Day Six came via the men’s 200m freestyle S14 final. Benjamin Hance claimed silver with a finishing time of 1:55.50, whilst Jack Ireland secured bronze with a time of 1:56.15. Liam Schluter touched the wall in eighth place.
The men’s 50m freestyle final saw Tom Nowakowski and Grayson Bell finish in sixth and eighth place respectively.
Mollie O’Callaghan (silver) and Kaylee McKeown (bronze) earned themselves a spot on the podium in the women’s 50m backstroke final. Fellow Australian Bronte Job finished in sixth place.
The men’s 1500m freestyle final was one to remember for 18-year-old Sam Short. Short claimed his first ever Commonwealth Games gold medal with a time of 14:48.54. Kieren Pollard also put in a gutsy performance, touching the wall in fifth place.
All eyes then turned to the battle between Ariarne Titmus and Canada’s Summer McIntosh in the women’s 400m freestyle final. Titmus got the chocolates, winning gold with a time of 3:58.06 and breaking the Commonwealth Games record in the process.
Kiah Melverton (4:03.12) also performed strongly to claim bronze, whilst Lani Pallister finished in fifth place.
Australia then closed out the swimming leg of the Commonwealth Games with silver and gold in the men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relay finals.
Table Tennis
Eight Australians featured in the table tennis matches played across Day Six.
Finn Luu (Group 2) and Dillon Chambers (Group 9) won both of their respective men’s singles group matches, whilst Li Na Lei (Group 2) and Qian Yang (Group 1) were also victorious in both of their women’s singles classes 6-10 matches.
Amanda Jane Tscharke (Group 2) lost both of her group matches in the women’s singles classes 3-5 event. Meanwhile, Daniela di Toro (Group 1) had one win and one loss.
Junjian Chen was defeated in both of his men’s singles classes 3-5 group stage clashes. Conversely, Lin Ma secured consecutive victories in the men’s singles classes 8-10.
Weightlifting
Jackson George Roberts-Young performed commendably in the men’s 109kg final. The 25-year-old managed to lift 145kg in the snatch within his three attempts.
However, it was in the clean and jerk component of the final that Roberts-Young shone. The Australian successfully lifted 202kg, the heaviest weight of any other finalist.
Roberts-Young’s impressive display propelled him to fifth place in the overall standings, only 8kgs off a spot on the podium.
Suamili Nanai also battled admirably in the men’s 109+kg final. Nanai lifted a total weight of 361kg, culminating in a sixth-placed overall finish.
However, it was Charisma Amoe Tarrant who delivered a medal for Australia in the weightlifting on Day Six, securing bronze in the women’s 87+kg final. The 23-year-old lifted a combined total weight of 239kg across the snatch and clean and jerk.
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