Scotland at the Commonwealth Games

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Former World Indoor champion Jason Banks staged a stunning comeback to beat Wales' Ross Owen and retain hopes of qualifying from Section C of the men's bowls singles at the Commonwealth Games.

The Scot lost the opening set 11-4 but stormed back to take the second 12-1 before winning the tie-break.

It means Banks has three wins and one defeat along with England's Sam Tolchard and Fiji's Rajnesh Prasad in the six-player groups.

But Beth Riva and Caroline Brown suffered a 5-3 5-1 defeat by group leaders Malaysia in the women's pairs.

The Scots sit third, with Aleena Ahmad Nawawi and Syafiga Haidar Afif Abdul Rahman top after four straight wins and Norfolk Island second with three victories.

There was also defeat for Mary Stevenson and Robert Barr in the para mixed pairs as they lost 1-6 7-3 1-0 to Wales' Julie Thomas and Steffan James in a top-of-the-table clash.

It means the Welsh top the league with four wins and one defeat, with Scotland having three victories and two losses along with New Zealand.

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Scotland men's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the 3x3 Basketball at the Commonwealth Games suffered a blow with a 21-13 defeat by New Zealand.

The Scots had defeated Nigeria 21-16 earlier on Sunday but now sit third in the Pool A table behind Australia and New Zealand.

While Scotland have won three of their five games, the two Antipodean sides have won four, with Australia also having a game in hand.

But the Scots top the tables in both wheelchair events.

The men beat Malaysia 18-6 and head Pool B on their own with two wins.

The women top their Pool B along with Wales with two wins each after beating India 21-4.

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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It has been quite the summer for weightlifter Alex MacKay.

In between training for her first Commonwealth Games, she graduated with a medical degree from Dundee University.

You would forgive her for not, in her own words, performing at her best, as the 23-year-old finished seventh in the women's weightlifting 49kg category.

But she relished her Commonwealth Games debut - and is keen for more.

"I'm really happy with that performance," she said. "It's not quite personal best for me, but the atmosphere from the crowd, it was incredible. I had so much fun and I am very proud of myself for that.

"I'm hoping this is my first Games of many. Definitely looking for India 2030. Hopefully a few other target comps along the way."

MacKay will have to fit her training and competing around her medical career, which starts this week at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle, but she seems determined to do just that.

"I think my biggest lesson, even from the whole build up, is it just won't be straightforward all the time," she said. "Sometimes you're going to have so many challenges that make it not as you had planned in your head.

"I'm always very organised. I like things to be how I like it. So this has been far from easy for me to be here and just have such a good time."

MacKay was involved in a special final, with India's Saikhom Mirabai Chanu winning the gold while posting two Commonwealth records.

"Honestly, some of the other girls in my group are incredible," the Scot added. "I really do aspire to lift the weights that they do. I'm obviously a little bit more down in the group, not really in medal contention this year, but I'm hoping for the next Games that that would be something I've got my eye on."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Scottish boxer Stephanie Kernachan was devastated to lose her first round fight but is glad to complete a "lifetime journey" on her long-awaited Commonwealth Games debut.

The 33-year-old came out of retirement after Birmingham 2022 to realise her dream but was comprehensively beaten in her 54kg contest with Canada's Scarlett Savannah Delgado.

"This has been a lifetime journey coming," she said after the unanimous decision. "All these years of hard work and dedication.

"To have it all come together and then be over so quickly, it's really hard to take, but that's the way it is."

Kernachan had hoped to box on home soil in 2014, but Team Scotland did not select any female fighters, while her weight class was overlooked in 2018 and her gloves were hung up in 2019.

Having been talked into a return to the ring by her old coaches, she admits it was tough to get back to international level again, but says she felt she had "nothing to lose."

When Glasgow stepped in to rescue the Games, it provided Kernachan with extra motivation.

"When they announced Glasgow, I thought, 'you know what? This is it. This is meant to be. I'm from Glasgow, and it's in Glasgow'.

"I finally got here. I've got my dream. It's just really hard to not actually get any further."

Kernachan's family were out in force cheering her on at the Hydro and they have been fully behind her decision to get back into the ring.

"My sister stopped by and dropped off a few wee cards yesterday," she explained. "My mum died five years ago and she'd made a keyring with a locket or hair in it. So that was quite emotional.

"It's a huge achievement and I need to be proud of that. And I'm sure everybody else is."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Scotland's netballers got their Commonwealth Games campaign back on track with a tight 56-47 win over Wales at the Hydro.

After losing their opening group match to New Zealand, Scotland knew they had to win this all-British match-up, and the composure and accuracy of Emma Barrie and Niamh McCall was the difference between the sides.

Both teams were well supported in a packed and noisy arena as Scotland opened up a 16-8 lead in the first quarter. That strong start was to prove crucial, with the rest of contest an even affair.

Wales clawed back a point in the second quarter, with the Scots getting the best of the third quarter by three.

With a 10-point lead going into the final quarter, the host nation held on for a vital victory.

Scotland play Trinidad and Tabago in their next pool match on Monday.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Team Scotland

Scotland men and women made a dream start to their respective 3x3 wheelchair basketball campaigns with impressive victories.

The men defeated South Africa 15-9 while the women breezed to a 16-1 win over Nigeria in the first of three group games.

But the women's 3x3 basketball team endured a trickier day on court, losing their first two games before ending on a high, with victory against Singapore.

The 21-15 win came after a narrow 12-10 loss to Tonga and a 14-9 defeat to England.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Team Scotland

There was a video, external doing the rounds on social media on Saturday, highlighting Team Scotland's Para-mixed pairs bowler Robert Barr's 'aura'.

The 65-year-old skip is often seen watching his bowl glide down the carpet through his telescope. And it’s often very close to the jack.

He was in fine form again on Saturday as, along with his director Sarah Jane Ewing, and lead Mary Stevenson and her director Jim Aitken, Scotland secured two wins in Group A of the Para-mixed pairs B2-B3.

A 1.5-0.5 afternoon win over Australia was backed up by a commanding straight sets victory against England in the night's final session at the SEC Centre.

It leaves the team second, behind Wales, who they face in their final group game on Sunday evening. That's sure to be a cracker.

Just like the women's pairs 2-0 success over Falkland Islands. Beth Riva and Caroline Weir stormed to a 8-5 12-1 win, leaving them third in Group D with two games left.

However, Jason Banks' hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the men's singles were dealt a blow as he suffered his first Commonwealth Games defeat to Rajnesh Pasad of Fiji.

The 30-year-old responded to a 6-2 loss in the first set with a 9-2 win to force the tie-breaker, but lost out on the extra end.

He faces Wales on Sunday before rounding off his group campaign against England on Monday.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Reuters

In their Commonwealth Games debut, Scotland posted a credible score in the women's artistic gymnastics team final - but ultimately finished sixth.

Finishing second in subdivision three with 140.850 points, the Scots - who's oldest member is Lottie Smith aged 25 - needed to wait for the final group of Australia, Canada, England and South Africa to finish before they know their final standings.

Wales were top the table with an impressive 153.400, but Australia Canada and England proved too strong as the trio powered to the podium.

However, there was reason to smile for Crystelle Lake and EllLee Cheetham, who qualified for the all-around individual final on Sunday.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland at the SEC

Image source, Team Scotland

Nicholas Devlin usually spends his Saturday mornings in Aldi in East Kilbride. Shelf stacking. Cleaning up. Bit of work on the tills.

Not this week, though. This week he was fighting for Scotland.

The 25-year-old delivered an accomplished performance in front of family, friends and team-mates at the SEC to see off Finbar O'Sullivan of New Zealand in the men's lightweight category.

Devlin's win was unanimous, taking all three rounds, to move into the last 16 and within two bouts of securing at least a bronze medal.

His target is gold, though, with the prospect of turning professional on the horizon and leaving behind his days in the supermarket.

"I've used up my holidays this year so I've had to take time off unpaid," Devlin told BBC Sport Scotland. "But they've been a great support to me, letting me work round my training and stuff, so I can't thank them enough.

"I'd pick this any day of the week, though...

"The nerves were worse this morning but once I got started I went emotionless and a bit numb almost, and got on with it.

"All my family and friends have paid their hard-earned money to come and watch me and I want to make them proud and get a medal."

Devlin’s bloodied team-mate Alan Perrie fell at the last 32 hurdle, though, after the referee stopped his fight against Paul Trainor of Australia in the 80kg division towards the end of the second round.

Andrew Southwick
BBC Sport Scotland

Hope Gordon completed a "full circle moment" after realising her dream of competing in the Commonwealth Games, just a short distance away from her old bed in Yorkhill Children's Hospital.

The 31-year-old became the first female to compete in Para-powerlifting for Scotland, finishing ninth in the heavyweight category at the SEC Armadillo.

The closing ceremony of the Games will be a poignant moment for her, falling on the 10th anniversary of her having her left leg amputated after nine years of treatment.

Her journey was all the more remarkable, winning two goals medals in her usual sport of Para-Canoeing 10 days before the Games, then fighting off food poisoning before competing.

"It was incredible," said Gordon. "My mum, dad and my brother, they're the ones that knew how tough it was when I was in Yorkhill and I guess there's not many people who knew what was going on behind those hospital doors.

"So, for all of us to have that experience where we're in the Armadillo to compete, or my family to spectate, and we can see Yorkhill right beside it, it was incredible."

Gordon's two gold medals at the Paracanoe World Cup in Montreal, Canada served as unusual preparation for Glasgow 2026.

And Gordon - who also previously became Great Britain's first ever female para Nordic skier - has little time to relax, with her biggest event this year coming next month at the World Championships in Poland when she returns to Paracanoeing.

"In lots of ways I've got to thank Australia for tapping out, because if it was in Australia I wouldn't have been able to be here," said Gordon of Scotland's late decision to host the Games.

"I'm definitely not used to walking out on a stage anywhere, never mind one in front of thousands of screaming Scotland fans."

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland at The Hydro

Image source, PA Media

Sometimes it's about a bigger picture.

Scotland took a sore one as they opened the Commonwealth Games netball with a thumping 74-44 defeat by New Zealand, but the events of Saturday morning were about much more than just the contest on court.

The biggest ever crowd for netball in Scotland was inside the cavernous Hydro for the 09:00 BST start as the sport was given a priceless platform.

"We're so grateful," said goal shooter Emma Barrie, who scored 20 of the hosts' points. "We don't get many events like this in netball.

"It's so special for women's sport and for all these little girls to be able to see it. When I came to the 2014 Games, that was the start of netball for me."

Defeat in their first of five group games was not unexpected given the Scots' opposition were the world's second best side.

The more significant test comes against Wales on Sunday (09:00) as they endeavour to improve on their ninth-place finish in Birmingham four years ago.