Mid Wales

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Amy Williams has missed out on a Commonwealth Games medal in Glasgow after losing her women's singles pool decider 2-0 against Malaysia's Emma Firyana Saroj.

Both bowlers had won their first four group matches so it was a winner-takes-all contest to see who would reach the semi-final.

Williams lost the first set 6-5 before being beaten 8-1 in the second by the world number one.

It was another near miss for Williams after she and partner Lauren Gowen lost the bronze medal match in the women's pairs.

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James Ball claimed his second silver of these Glasgow Games after once again falling to Scottish rival Neil Fachie in a dramatic tandem B sprint final.

Ball qualified third fastest this morning but needed just two of the three semi-final races to seal victory over Australian Kane Perris.

Once again, he faced Fachie in the final after the Scot claimed gold in Thursday's time trial when the Welshman came second.

The 35-year-old from Ponthir hoped to repeat the 2022 final, where he defeated his foe to claim a first Commonwealth gold.

In the first race, Fachie and pilot Aaron Pope caught Ball and Matthew Rotherham off guard by attacking with a lap and a half to go and winning comfortably.

The Welsh pair seemed to find an extra gear in race two, striking back to force a decider.

The third race had to be restarted after the Scottish pair crashed, clipping the back of the Welsh wheel.

Fachie and Pope, with cuts, bruises and rips in their cycling suits, then rode to glory to the delight of the home crowd.

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Anna Morris and Jess Roberts secured a one-two for Wales in the women's 25km points race.

Morris followed up her individual pursuit success with another gold, that after she had won team pursuit bronze alongside Roberts.

The qualified doctor bossed the race from start to finish, picking up points in each of the first three sprints before lapping the field to claim 20 points with around 60 laps left.

Roberts followed in lapping the pack and climbed the points table.

In the second half of the race, the lead switched back and forth between the Welsh pair several times before Morris took command to lead her team-mate by six points.

She claimed the 10 points in the final sprint to finish on 66 while Roberts clung on to second, picking up two points to hold off Australian bronze winner Georgia Baker, who was just one point back.

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Wales judoka Ben Moore missed out on a podium position after losing to Northern Ireland's Josh Green in the men's -73kg bronze medal contest.

"It's tough," said Moore.

"I felt like I could have got the medal, but it's good. I'm happy. The experience has been out of this world."

Afterwards, Moore was carrying a teddy in memory of his close friend Jago Ford who passed away from a brain tumour last year. Jago's Mum was watching Moore in action in Glasgow.

Holly Devall had earlier lost the in repechage category in the women's -73kg category to Northern Ireland's Rachael Hawkes.

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Wales boxing silver medallist Orlando Holley-Sotomi felt he could have been awarded gold after his 70kg final loss on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking after his split decision defeat against Northern Ireland's Jon McConnell, the light-middleweight said: "He was a good boxer, a good mover and he moved all three rounds.

"I felt the judges should have scored my aggression a bit more but sometimes, you can't always trust the officiating.

"You have to always give credit to your opponent and it's part of boxing."

Holley-Sotomi suffered a second-round one-point deduction for his head being too low but felt his opponent could also have been penalised.

"I felt he fell over how many times so he should have been warned," he said.

"It was only fair if I have a warning, he has a warning as well, but sometimes it's not fair."

Holley-Sotomi, who lost on his 23rd birthday, dedicated his medal to his father who died earlier this year.

He believes this Commonwealth Games is just the start of his career as he eyes a potential switch to the professional ranks.

"It means the world representing Wales," he said.

"I think I've proved to what type of exciting calibre of fighter I am.

"I think everyone should watch out. I might have a look at the pro game. Maybe we'll see a deal. Maybe Eddie Hearn or Frank Warren. Make some money.

"What I possess is one of the best right hands in boxing today is. So we'll see."

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Team Wales will leave Glasgow without a Commonwealth Games boxing gold medal after heavyweight Connor Williams had to settle for silver.

The Swansea fighter was defeated by England's Isaac Okoh in the 90kg category final by a unanimous decision just after Orlando Holley-Sotomi lost his gold medal bout.

Williams has made a rapid rise since joining Welsh boxing's elite programme last year and silver might well have exceeded his expectations.

The Wales boxing squad finish the Glasgow campaign with four medals with Saturday's pair of silvers sitting alongside bronze for Rosie Eccles and Owain Harris-Allan.

Wales won six medals in Birmingham in 2022, consisting of two gold, three silver and a bronze.

They leave a Games without a boxing champion for the first time since 2014.

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Welsh light-middleweight boxer Orlando Holley-Sotomi secured a Commonwealth Games silver medal after a split decision defeat by Northern Ireland's Jon McConnell in the 70kg final.

The first round went 3-2 in Holley-Sotomi's favour but he lost the second round and also had a point deducted after earlier warnings by the referee for his head being too low.

Holley-Sotomi tried to force the decision in the final round and landed a blow on his opponent's chin.

But McConnell, who skipped the chance to be on Love Island to make his Commonwealth Games debut, was crowned champion by the judges as Holley-Sotomi lost on his 23rd birthday.

The Welsh boxing squad will finish with four medals after Rosie Eccles and Owain Harris-Allan had claimed bronze, while Connor-Williams is guaranteed a silver or gold as he prepares for his final straight after Holley-Sotomi.

Holley-Sotomi has been Wales' breakout boxing star of these games after starting with a last-16 victory over his more-fancied English opponent Paddy Hewitt.

The Newport boxer really announced himself in the quarter-finals with a thunderous first-round knockout of Lesotho's Refiloe Thai.

Knockouts of such brutality are rare in amateur boxing but the man nicknamed 'The General' looked every bit the professional.

His statement knockout set up a semi-final against Mauritius' Merven Clair, which he won unanimously to set up the final.

Holley-Sotomi was a promising rugby player when he first began boxing at 15.

He was in the Dragons rugby academy and picked up the sport in order to improve his fitness, and became a three-time Welsh champion before this Commonwealth campaign.

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Welsh record holder Charlotte Henrich finished fourth in the women's 400m final at Scotstoun Stadium.

The 19-year-old's time of 51.16 seconds was just 0.16 seconds off the medal positions in her Commonwealth Games debut.

The race was won by Jamaica's Dejanea Oakley in a time of 50.21, with Barbados' Sada Williams in silver and Nigeria's Ella Onojuvwevwo taking bronze.

Henrich said she was "so happy" with her effort in Glasgow:

"I'm not even frustrated I was so close to a medal," she said.

"I'm sure I'll look back on it and see if I could have done something else, but right now I've come fourth at my first Commonwealth Games, I couldn't have asked for more."

Henrich broke Michelle Scutt's Welsh record, which had stood since 1982, at the UK Athletics Championships in June and then again two weeks later at the London Diamond League event.

Earlier this week she was named to the British team to compete at this month's European Championships in Birmingham.

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Welsh Para-cyclist James Ball is guaranteed a silver and will race for a gold medal in the men's tandem B sprint final with pilot Matthew Rotherham later today.

Ball qualified third fastest this morning but needed just two of the three semi-final races to seal victory over Australian Kane Perris.

He will once again take on rival Neil Fachie in the final after the Scot claimed gold in Thursday's time trial, with the Welshman in second.

The 35-year-old will be hoping for a repeat of the 2022 final, where he defeated Fachie to claim his first Commonwealth gold.

"He'll get a massive boost from the crowd," Ball said of Fachie.

"It's inevitable really and I don't blame them. They are going to be fighting for it but we're going to fight right back."

Elsewhere, all three Welshmen, Rhys Britton, William Perrett and William Roberts, qualified for tonight's men's 10km scratch race final.

Medal hopeful Britton said: "I find the qualifiers a lot more nerve-wracking than the final.

"I'd love to get a medal and it's something that's pretty possible as long as we do everything right.

"It would mean the world, it's a lifelong dream. Representing Wales is the pinnacle, I've dreamed of it since I was a kid."

In the men's sprint, Ioan Hepburn, Steffan Lloyd and Jonah Jenkins finished 11th, 15th and 19th respectively, though Hepburn was pleased to set a new British junior record in qualifying.

"I'm absolutely over the moon," he said. "It's been a goal of mine for a good couple of years and to break that with a crowd like this is absolutely incredible."