Scotland break new ground at Commonwealth Games with historic medals

The nation had never before won a Commonwealth gong in any team event but changed all that on a memorable night in Glasgow, bagging men’s bronze before women’s wheelchair silver.

First, the men’s side sent the SEC into raptures with a heart-thumping triumph over New Zealand to scramble onto the podium.

And while the women’s wheelchair team were unable to battle past England in their final, a second medal was still secure.

Scotland’s men’s team narrowly missed out on a medal in both the Gold Coast and Birmingham, where they went down by a single point against Canada.

But they banished those demons in thrilling fashion to battle over the line 18-16 and indelibly etch their name in Scottish Commonwealth folklore.

Scottish star Owen McCormack said: “It’s unbelievable. We’ve been a very close-knit group – it’s great to see so much success for Scottish basketball.

“When I’m much older I will have all these awesome stories to tell – the crowd, the atmosphere and the amazing support from our families and fans, it’s been perfect.”

The women’s wheelchair side lost 18-10 to England in the final after overcoming Australia earlier in the day.

Scottish star Jodie Waite said: “The goal was to go out and create history for those watching us, and I’m so glad we can do that. It highlights the strength of both Scottish basketball – that’s amazing for us considering all the teams that were out there.”

The men’s wheelchair side were unable to make it a hat-trick of medals as they lost 19-12 against Australia in their earlier semi-final.

Mixed news on boxing

Over at the boxing, Sonny Kerr guaranteed himself a medal with a dominant triumph in his 70kg quarter-final.

The Aberdeen ace, 21, breezed past Samoan Marion Ah Tong to set up a semi-final showdown with Northern Ireland’s Jon McConnell on Friday.

“It feels great getting a medal,” he said. “I thought I boxed well enough – I did well and used my skill. It’s absolutely brilliant – I just want to move onto the next now.”

Meanwhile, Cambuslang lightweight Nicholas Devlin vowed to come back stronger after falling just short of a medal. The 25-year-old lost in the 60kg quarter-final to Wales’ Owain Harris-Allan via a unanimous decision. “I just couldn't get going in there,” he said. “I've been here before and I'll come again.”

Stephen McKenzie became the first Scot to win a men's long jump medal at the Commonwealth Games. It's 24 years since Darren Ritchie missed the podium by just a centimetre in Manchester.

McKenzie took Ritchie's 21-year-old Scottish record earlier this year with a leap of 8.15 at the Novuna UK Championships and he went one better here to win bronze.

And his best effort of 8.08m in Scotstoun left him just seven centimetres short of the gold, won by Jamaica's Tajay Gayle.