Five-star Bezzoubenko lights up Glasgow

Published July 27, 2014
GLASGOW: Pakistan’s Anum Bandey swims in the women’s 200m breaststroke heats at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday. Anum won the three-competitor heat, covering the distance in 2:54.81 but that wasn’t able to see her qualify for the event final where the cut-off time was 2:28.33.—Reuters
GLASGOW: Pakistan’s Anum Bandey swims in the women’s 200m breaststroke heats at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday. Anum won the three-competitor heat, covering the distance in 2:54.81 but that wasn’t able to see her qualify for the event final where the cut-off time was 2:28.33.—Reuters

GLASGOW: Canada’s Patricia Bezzoubenko was crowned queen of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Saturday, completing a five gold medal haul in rhythmic gymnastics while New Zealand extended their games’ winning streak in rugby sevens to 26 matches.

Vancouver-born Bezzoubenko, who trains regularly with the Russian gymnastics team in Moscow, had already won two golds in the team and all-around events and she added three more on Saturday in the clubs, ball and hoop individual disciplines.

The one gold that escaped her grasp was in the ribbon which went to Francesca Jones giving Wales their first gold medal of the Games.

The other gold to be won early on in the third day of competition went to Australia’s Daniel Repacholi in the men’s 10m air pistol.

CARNOUSTIE (Scotland): Pakistan’s Usman Chand competes in the men’s skeet qualification at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre during the Commonwealth Games on Saturday. Having ended 13th with a score of 67 on the opening day of qualification on Friday, Usman shot 46 to end 10th on Saturday but his total score of 113 wasn’t enough to earn him a spot in the finals.—AFP
CARNOUSTIE (Scotland): Pakistan’s Usman Chand competes in the men’s skeet qualification at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre during the Commonwealth Games on Saturday. Having ended 13th with a score of 67 on the opening day of qualification on Friday, Usman shot 46 to end 10th on Saturday but his total score of 113 wasn’t enough to earn him a spot in the finals.—AFP

But the toast of the town in that event was third-placed Mick Gault of England who at 60 won a record-equalling 18th Commonwealth Games medal.

Gault moved level with another shooter, Australian Phillip Adams, who has retired, and could win his 19th medal in the 50-metre event on Monday. “I don’t really mind sharing it with some old Australian,” Gault said, smiling.

New Zealand meanwhile crushed Canada 39-0 to get the Rugby Sevens tournament underway at Ibrox Stadium, the 115-year-old home of Rangers football club.

The teams met in the Glasgow final of the IRB sevens tournament in May, when New Zealand again dominated 54-7. There were a number of other one-sided matches early Saturday in the two-day, 16-team tournament — Wales beat Malaysia 52-0, South Africa blanked Trinidad and Tobago 36-0 and Australia defeated Sri Lanka 62-7.

In netball, the two title favourites, Australia and England, played out a group stage thriller which the Australians edged 49-48.

England continued their domination of triathlon when they won the mixed teams relay, with South Africa second and Australia taking bronze.

Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and Jodie Stimpson, who won the individual men’s and women’s races on Thursday, were members of the four-person England team. The two women and two men in each team complete a mini-triathlon of swimming, cycling and running before tagging their team-mate.

Canada’s Patricia Bezzoubenko competes in the hoop discipline 
during the Individual All-Around final 
of the Rhythmic Gymnastics event.
—AFP
Canada’s Patricia Bezzoubenko competes in the hoop discipline during the Individual All-Around final of the Rhythmic Gymnastics event. —AFP

In the morning qualifying session in the swimming pool England’s Fran Halsall continued her fine start to the meet with another Commonwealth Games record of 25:64 sec as the defending champion cruised into the semi-finals of the 50m butterfly.

Meanwhile, 100m backstroke champion Chris Walker-Hebborn kept his impressive Games going by qualifying fastest for the semi-finals of the 50m backstroke.

And Australia comfortably qualified as the fastest team for the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay ahead of New Zealand and England respectively.

Pakistan bid farewell to bowls competition

GLASGOW: Two local restaurant owners took time out from their busy Glasgow curry house to represent Pakistan in lawn bowls but could not cook up a victory as they bowed out against the Falkland Islands on Saturday.

Muzahir Shan and Mohammed Qureshi, who run a restaurant near Hampden Park, received a surprise call-up to join Maqsood Khan, the secretary of Pakistan’s Lawn Bowls Federation, to become the first men to play for Pakistan in the event.

“Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d be playing in a Commonwealth Games in our home town,” Qureshi told the BBC ahead of the Games.

“We’ve been working together for the past 27 years, running a restaurant on the south side of Glasgow. It’s been a great partnership.”

Unfortunately they could not make the most of home advantage and the three men lost in all five of their matches, also going down to Australia, England, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.

But with their restaurant only a two-minute walk from Hampden Park, Shan joked that they will be able enjoy the closing ceremony and still make it back in time for work, where Glasgow 2014 fever has taken hold.

“Mohammed has made a few dishes for the Games,” he said. “There’s Tikka Shot, Kormawealth and Lawn Bhuna.” The Pakistan team still have one hope for a first bowls medal left, in the form of University of Glasgow PhD student Muhammad Shahzad, who plays in the men’s single event on Sunday.

The 30-year-old only took up bowls three years ago, after an open day visit to Willowbank Bowling Club in Scotland.

“I came to Scotland for my PhD but now when I go back home I’ll be taking a PhD, bowls and Irn-Bru [soft drink],” Shahzad explained of Scotland’s infamous fizzy orange beverage. “I’m addicted to it!”—Reuters

Shah Hussain makes judo final

GLASGOW: Pakistan’s Shah Hussain qualified for the men’s 100kg category judo finals at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.

Hussain defeated New Zealand’s Tim Slyfield in the semi-final, and now faces Euwan Burton of Scotland in the final.

Previously, Hussain won a bronze medal in the Asian Judo Championship and bronze again at the U-20 JIKJI Cup International Judo Championship staged in South Korea.

He is the son of former Pakistan boxer Hussain Shah, who also won a bronze in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the middle weight category, and was the first Pakistani to clinch a boxing medal in Olympics.—Agencies

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2014

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