Thirteen medal haul for Team England at the Commonwealth
17th October 2008Team England’s young athletes won 13 medals on day six of the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India, including another four golds in boxing and shooting. The stars of the show were the England boxing team, with three golds, one silver and a bronze.
Only the tennis singles finals remain tomorrow (Saturday), with no England players remaining in either draw.
In the boxing ring today (Friday) bantamweight John Quigley from Liverpool retained his unbeaten record with a comprehensive 12:1 points decision over Clevon Rock from Guyana.
“I’m just over the moon,” he said afterwards. “I can’t wait to tell my family, they’ll be waiting by the phone. I’ll go home and relax for a couple of weeks and then get back in the gym and continue where I left off. I’m only going to get better - I’m not going to take my foot off the gas just because I’m Commonwealth Youth Games champion and my next major target has to be Delhi in 2010.”
Ferndown’s Iain Weaver was next in to the ring for the featherweight final and he was never in danger against Ibrahim Balla of Australia for a 16:1 points decision.
“I was a bit nervous beforehand,” he admitted, “because you can always be beaten if you’re not on the top of your game. But I thought if I boxed to the best of my ability I could win.
“This means everything to me - I wanted to do it for my mum and dad because they wanted a gold medal - they wanted to come out here but they couldn’t get a visa in time and I can’t wait to get home because I know they’ll be very happy. This is the biggest event I’ve ever done and it is a big team effort - we’re all big mates and it helps to have the support of the team behind you. I’m on the first step of the ladder and hopefully I can get to the Olympics if I keep working hard.”
Daniel Phillips from Middlesbrough was ahead by 13:1 after two of the four rounds in his lightweight final and although his Northern Ireland opponent Sean Duffy fought hard in the next two rounds the final verdict was 21:7 in favour of the Englishman.
“This means the world to me,” he said. “It’s all I’ve been thinking about since I got here. I knew I was winning easily and I went a bit off track for a minute but this has been a great experience and will give me a lot of confidence. Hopefully I can go on from here to Delhi in 2010 and then London.”
Liverpool student James Dickens came agonisingly close to winning a fourth gold medal for Team England in the flyweight division. He was all square with Daniel Chapman in the final round but with two seconds left on the clock a point was awarded to his Welsh opponent and he had to be content with silver. Kirk Garvery picked up a bronze in the middleweight division to complete a fine competition for the Team England boxing team.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything else,” said head coach Mick Gannon. “I’m so proud of the team, they’ve been a credit to boxing and they’ve done Team England proud as well.”
The shooting team have also had a very successful Games and they added another gold medal to their tally when Rory Warlow, an 18-year-old flooring contractor from Plymouth won the men’s skeet competition. In second place overnight, he took a narrow lead into the final after this morning’s preliminary round and in a tense finish he needed to score both his final two shots. Displaying great maturity and nerve he did just that to take the gold by one point from Georgios Kazakos representing Cyprus.
“I didn’t perform very well,” said Rory, “but it was enough today and it’s the place and not the score that counts. I knew that I needed those last two shots but I haven’t missed those two shots for about five years so I wasn’t that nervous. Although I would have liked to have shot better I’m very pleased to get a gold medal.”
The final night in the pool brought a further five medals for Team England’s swimming team, including a bronze medal in the men’s 200m breaststroke for Bobby Cave from Stockport, who was celebrating his 18th birthday.
“The time was a fair way off my best,” he said, “but it’s the first time I’ve ever swam outdoors and my first big international meet so I’m really pleased to get a medal. It’s a nice birthday present and I’m really chuffed. I’ll celebrate tonight if the coaches let us but we’re training tomorrow morning for the English Schools Championships next week which I’m hoping to win. The Commonwealth Youth Games has been fantastic - probably the best experience of my life and my 18th birthday as well - amazing!”
Stafford’s Daniel Vickers celebrated his 18th birthday just before flying out to India and he was delighted to win a silver in the men’s 200m butterfly.
“I’m over the moon,” he said. “I really wanted a medal and was aiming for the Aussie all the way. That’s a personal best time for me and to swim this fast at this time of the year - you can’t ask for any more. It is my first international meet so to win a medal is great.”
Helena Thornton added a silver in the 200m breaststroke to the gold she won in last night’s individual medley and Jess Dickons from Stockton-on-Tees won a well deserved bronze in the women’s 200m butterfly after finishing fourth in her previous two finals here.
“I just thought ‘I’m not going to come 4th again!’” she said afterwards. “I’m not fully fit and I didn’t really have that high expectations so to go home with a medal is great.”
A bronze in the women’s 4x100m medley relay brought the Team England swimming team’s total medal tally to 13 and a fifth medal for Louisa Farrer-Fisher.
Team England also picked up a medal in the badminton competition when Panuga Riou recovered from losing the first game to win her bronze medal play-off against her Malaysian opponent.
“I’m so pleased to win a medal,” she said. “I played really well today although I lost concentration for a bit in the first game. This will give me great confidence for the World Junior Championships, which are also taking place in Pune next week. It’s been such good experience here - I’ve never played in front of such a noisy crowd before.”
There was also a medal in the tennis competition as Lisa Whybourn and Jade Windley overcame a noisy crowd as well as their Indian opponents to take the bronze medal match in straight sets.
“We played really well today,” said Lisa from Cambridge, “and we were a lot sharper than yesterday. This is the first competition that we’ve played together and we’re getting used to it now.”
Lincoln based student Jade said: “I’ve definitely learned how to deal with large crowds here which is good experience for the future. Dealing with the heat and humidity has also been really hard but we’ve got a medal so I’m really pleased.”
In the final event in the weightlifting hall Team England’s Joshua Farghaly finished fourth in the men’s 85kg category.
The third Commonwealth Youth Games concludes tomorrow with the final stages of the singles in the tennis and the Closing Ceremony.