GLASGOW: England triumphed in the Commonwealth Games medals table for the first time in 28 years on Sunday, but there were final day consolations for former top dog Australia with wins in men’s hockey and netball.

England started the day already assured of top spot in the medals table for the first time since 1986, dethroning Australia.

With just 11 more golds to be decided on a rain-hit final day, Lizzie Armitstead struck further gold for England in the women’s cycling road race going one better than four years ago in New Dehli.

Fellow English rider Emma Pooley finished 25 seconds behind to finish second and add to the silver she won in the time trial.

“This is something I have always dreamed about; it means so much to me. I am always a runner-up,” Armitstead said.

“I am really happy. That was the best cycling teamwork I have ever been a part of. It’s such a shame Emma is retiring today, it was a fantastic job from her and all the girls, I am really proud of them.”

Welsh rider Geraint Thomas then won gold in the gruelling men’s 168km road race.

Thomas, who won bronze in the time trial, survived suffering a puncture with just 6km to go to finish in a time of four hours 13 minutes and five seconds.

A sprint finish saw New Zealand’s Jack Bauer claim silver while Scott Thwaites took bronze for England.

Australia's Laura Geitz (L) challenges New Zealand’s Maria Tutaia during the netball final at the Commonwealth Games. — Photo by Reuters

“It was such a grim day, I felt terrible at the start,” Thomas said. “And when I had that puncture, I thought, ‘what do I have to do’? But I had a decent enough gap to stay out in front.”

Australia won gold in the men’s hockey with a 4-0 thumping of India for a fifth consecutive Commonwealth title. Australia have won 29 of their 30 matches at the Commonwealth Games, only losing a pool match against South Africa 3-2 in 1998.

England beat New Zealand 4-2 in a penalty shootout to take the bronze medal after the teams were level 3-3 after regulation time ended.

Geraint Thomas of Wales crosses the finish line to win gold in the men’s road race. — Photo by AFP

Australia easily beat New Zealand 58-40 for gold in netball, but nearly never made it that far. In the semi-final against England, the Australians scored the winning basket with just one second left.

Jamaica beat England 52-48 for the bronze medal on Sunday.

Scottish hopes of a 20th gold medal were dashed when Kirsty Gilmour lost 21-14, 21-7 to Canada’s Michelle Li in the badminton women’s singles final.

India’s Kashyap Parupalli was a popular winner in the men’s singles title as he beat Derek Wong of Singapore in a three-game classic to win gold.

The 27-year-old came from behind in the deciding game to beat Wong 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 and become the first Indian man to win badminton gold at the Games for 32 years.

England's Lizzie Armitstead poses with her gold medal on the podium during the award ceremony for the women’s road race cycling event at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday. — Photo by AFP

“In this kind of big game to win gold is a big deal for me,” Kashyap told reporters after coming back from 11-8 down in the decider. “It’s like a dream that I haven’t dreamt of since I was a child.”

English husband and wife pairing Chris and Gabrielle Adcock comfortably won the mixed doubles, Khe Wei Won equalled the Malaysian badminton gold medal record as she went level on four with Eei Hun Chun after she won the women’s doubles with partner Vivian Kah Mun Hoo.

Malaysia also won the men’s doubles through Tan Wee Kiong and Goh Wei Shem.

In squash, Australia’s David Palmer and Rachael Grinham took the gold medal in the mixed doubles final over England’s Peter Barker and Alison Waters, winning 2-0.

Palmer then teamed up with Cameron Pilley in the men’s double final to win another gold for Australia, beating Adrian Grant and Nick Matthew of England 2-1.

Australia’s Chris Ciriello (R) scores during the gold medal match against India at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday. — Photo by AP

England ended with 58 goal medals, relegating Australia (49) to second place. Australia topped the medals table at every Commonwealth Games since 1990, and will have a chance to return to first place when the Gold Coast in Queensland state hosts the games in 2018.

Games officials turned out to sing the praises of the Glasgow games with Mike Hooper, CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation calling them “the stand-out Games in the history of the movement”.

“The spirit of these Games has continued to endure,” he added.

Final standings (Tabulated under gold, silver, bronze, total):

England 58 59 57 174 Australia 49 42 46 137 Canada 32 16 34 82 Scotland 19 15 19 53 India 15 30 19 64 New Zealand 14 14 17 45 South Africa 13 10 17 40 Nigeria 11 11 14 36 Kenya 10 10 5 25 Jamaica 10 4 8 22 Singapore 8 5 4 17 Malaysia 6 7 6 19 Wales 5 11 20 36 Cyprus 2 4 2 8 Northern Ireland 2 3 7 12 Papua New Guinea 2 0 0 2 Cameroon 1 3 3 7 Uganda 1 0 4 5 Grenada 1 0 1 2 Botswana 1 0 0 1 Kiribati 1 0 0 1 Trinidad and Tobago 0 3 5 8 Pakistan 0 3 1 4 Bahamas 0 2 1 3 Samoa 0 2 1 3 Namibia 0 1 2 3 Mauritius 0 1 1 2 Mozambique 0 1 1 2 Bangladesh 0 1 0 1 Isle of Man 0 1 0 1 Nauru 0 1 0 1 Sri Lanka 0 1 0 1 Ghana 0 0 2 2 Zambia 0 0 2 2 Barbados 0 0 1 1 Fiji 0 0 1 1 St Lucia 0 0 1 1

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2014