BIRMINGHAM 2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Presented by Joseph Kizza
(Scroll down this page for earlier updates)
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8:10 pm  |   Good evening!

Action will continues in Birmingham, but commentary ends here for today. Meet up again on Sunday.
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8:07 pm  |   PICTURE THIS 📸

Sri Lanka's Kumudi Abeyratne competes on the horizontal bar in the women's team final and individual qualification artistic gymnastics event.

Canada's Sarah Orban crashes as she competes in the women's sprint quarter-finals.

Papua New Guinea's Morea Baru competes in the men's 65kg weightlifting event.

Australia's Shanea Tonkin stretches for the ball in their match against Kenya in women's hockey.

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7:41 pm 

New Zealand take gold in the women's 3000m individual pursuit cycling, in the form of Bryony Botha, as Australia's Maeve Plouffe (L) takes silver and Scotland's Neah Evans bags bronze.

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7:32 pm 

In the quarterfinals of the women's team table tennis, Australia beat Canada 3-0 in the first duel, as Malaysia lead India 1-0 in their game happening now.

Singapore will face Guyana and hosts England will battle Wales in the coming two quarterfinal contests.
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7:27 pm 

In the badminton mixed team Group D, Malaysia beat South Africa 5-0 while Jamaica overcame Zambia 4-1. In Group B, Mauritus defeated Barbados 4-1, as Singapore lead England 3-1 in the contest that it happening now.

In women's hockey, Australia whitewashed Kenya 8-0 in Pool B while England, leading 8-0 against Ghana in Pool A now, are doing the same.


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6:48 pm 

New Zealand (167/2) beat South Africa (154/7) in the Cricket T20 preliminary round (Group B) at Edgbaston Stadium.

In boxing, Uganda's Jonathan Kyobe was defeated 1-4 by Botswana's George Molwantwa in the featherweight round of 32.

In the light middleweight round of 32, Ugandan Isaac Zebra Ssenyange Jr. lost 1-4 to Lesotho's Arena Pakela.

England's Lewis Williams beat Pakistan's Nazeer Ullah Khan 5-0 in a heavyweight round of 16 duel.

In netball, Australia beat Scotland 83-30 in Pool A while England defeated Malawi 66-41. Uganda face New Zealand tonight.

There was also squash action in the women's and men's singles round of 32.
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6:27 pm 

Here are the swimmers and teams that progressed from the heats.

Men's 200m freestyle finalists:

- Elijah Winnington (Australia)
- Matthew Sates (South Africa)
- Duncan Scott (Scotland)
- Calum Jarvis (Wales)
- Joe Litchfield (England)
- Tom Dean (England)
- Mack Horton (Australia)
- Matthew Richards (Wales)

Women's 50m freestyle semifinalists:

- Meg Harris (Australia)
- Cherelle Thompson (Trinidad & Tobago)
- Maddy moore (Bermuda)
- Evie Davis (Scotland)
- Shayna Jack (Australia)
- Anna Hopkin (England)
- Isabella Hindley (England)
- Olivia Nel (South Africa)
- Erin Gallagher (South Africa)
- Mackenzie Headley (Jamaica)
- Emma McKeon (Australia)
- Emma Chelius (South Africa)
- Danielle Hill (Northern Ireland)
- Anna Hadijiloizou (Cyprus)
- Xiang Qi Amanda Lim (Singapore)
- Emma Russell (Scotland)

Men's 100m breaststroke semifinalists:

- Zac Stubblety-Cook (Australia)
- Archie Goodburn (Scotland)
- Craig Benson (Scotland)
- James Dergousoff (Canada)
- Kyle Booth (Wales)
- Jadon Wuilliez (Antigua & Barbuda)
- Panayiotis Panaretos (Cyprus)
- James Wilby (England)
- Joshua Yong (Australia)
- Ross Murdoch (Scotland)
- Adam Peaty (England)
- Sam Williamson (Australia)
- Brenden G Crawford (South Africa)
- Maximillian Wei Ang (Singapore)
- Greg Butler (England)
- Michale Houlie (South Africa)

Women's 100m backstroke semifinalists:

- Lauren Cox (England)
- Cassie Wild (Scotland)
- Charlotte Evans (Wales)
- Emma Harvey (Bermuda)
- Danielle Titus (Barbados)
- Kylie Masse (Canada)
- Minna Atherton (Australia)
- Danielle Hill (Northern Ireland)
- Holy McGill (Scotland)
- Vaness Hazel Ouwehand (New Zealand)
- Kaylee McKeown (Australia)
- Medi Harris (Wales)
- Mary-Sophie Harvey (Canada)
- Rebecca Meder ( South Africa)
- Katie Shanahan (Scotland)
- Tatiana Tostevin (Northern Island)

Men's 400m individual medley finalists:

- Brendon Smith (Australia)
- Matthew Sates (South Africa)
- Collyn Gagne (Canada)
- Se-Bom Lee (Australia)
- Lewis Clareburt (New Zealand)
- Kieren Pollard (Australia)
- Duncan Scott (Scotland)
- Mark Szaranek (Scotland)

Men's 4x100m freestyle relay finalists:

- Wales
- Canada
- Singapore
- Australia
- England
- South Africa
- Isle of Man
- Fiji
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5:53 pm   |    Table tennis action: Uganda beat Vanuatu

In the table tennis women's team contests at the NEC Hall 3, India beat Guyana 3-0 while South Africa beat Fiji 3-0 in Group 2. In Group 1, England edged Nigeria 3-2, as Singapore defeated St. Vince & Grenadines.

In the women's Group 4, Uganda beat Vanuatu 3-0, as Wales edged Canada 3-2 while in Group 3, Australia thrashed Maldives 3-0 as Malaysia enjoyed a 3-0 win over Mauritius.

Across to the men's teams, Ghana beat South 3-1 while Nigeria defeated Cyprus 3-0 in Group 2. In Group 1, Guyana and England were both winners over Fiji and Bangladesh, respecitively, with both results at 3-0.

Group 4 saw Australia beat Mauritius 3-0 and Canada defeat Malaysia 3-1. In Group 3, Singapore beat Barbados 3-0, as India brushed aside Northern Ireland 3-0.
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5:38 pm   |    The marathon medallists 🥇🥈🥉

Victor Kiplangat will be over the moon after winning the men's marathon for a historic gold for Uganda. Tanzania's Alphonce Felix Simbu (L) took silver while Kenyan Michael Mugo Githae bagged bronze.

It was a historic win for Australia's Jessica Stenson as she took gold in the women's marathon ahead of Kenya's Margaret Wangari Muriuki  and Namibia's Helalia Johannes.

In the men's wheelchair marathon, from left, Scotland's Sean Frame took silver, England's Johnboy Smith won gold while England's Simon Lawson settled for bronze.

The women's wheelchair marathon had only two podium finishes, with Australia's Christine Dawes taking gold and England's Eden Ranibow-Cooper silver.

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5:07 pm   |    Uganda thrash Jamaica in rugby sevens

In the women's rugby sevens, Scotland beat South Africa 33-12 and Fiji defeated Australia 19-12 in Pool B.

In Pool A, Canada thumped Sri Lanka 74-0 while New Zealand were 38-7 winners over hosts England.

The men's rugby sevens action saw Uganda thrash Jamaica 40-0, as Australia beat Kenya 7-5 in a low-scoring duel in Pool D.

Samoa beat Sri Lanka 44-0, as New Zealand beat England 20-0 in the men's Pool A. In Pool B, South Africa brushed aside Scotland 34-0 while Tonga saw off Malaysia 31-7.

And in the men's Pool C, Canada beat Zambia 24-12 while Fiji defeated Wales 38-24.
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4:55 pm  

In men's hockey, South Africa drew 2-2 with Pakistan in Pool A while Wales saw off Canada in a 5-1 win at the University of Birmingham Hockey and Squash Centre.
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4:50 pm   |   Uganda lose to Scotland in badminton

In badminton's mixed team (Group C), Scotland beat Uganda 4-1 while Canada defeated Maldives 5-0.

In Group A of the mixed team events, Australia edged Pakistan 3-2, as India beat Sri Lanka 5-0.
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4:43 pm   |   Lawn bowls and para lawn bowls

Earlier today in the para men's pairs B6-B8 (Section A) at Victoria Park, Scotland beat South Africa 18-10, New Zealand defeated Wales 20-12 and hosts England edged Australia 13-12.

In the womens singles (Section C), Cook Islands' Nooroa beat Fiji's Litia Tikoisuva 21-6 while Norfolk Island's Shae Wilson defeated Colleen Piketh 21-18.

In the women's singles (Section D), Australian Ellen Ryan beat Canada's Jordan Kos while Guernsey's Lucy Beere saw off Kenyan Eunice Wambui Mbugua 21-16.

It was wins for Australian Katelyn Inch, England's Amy Pharaoh, Malaysia's Siti Zalina Ahmad in the women's singles Section A.

Women's singles Second B saw wins for Shauna O'Neill (Guernsey), Laura Daniels (Wales) and Scotland's Dee Hoggan.

In the men's triples (Section C), Fiji beat Northern Ireland 20-15, as Wales outmuscled Norfolk Island.

While Scotland narrowly beat New Zealand 15-14 in the men' triples (Section A), it was a 16-16 tie between India and Malta. And in Section A, Australia edged Jersey 15-14, as Cook Islands beat Niue 24-17.

In the para women's pairs B6-B8 (SA), Australia beat South Africa 18-7 while Scotland defeated New Zealand 15-12.

In the men's triples (Section D), hosts England beat Canada 36-8 while South Africa edged Malaysia 17-12.
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4:30 pm  

Meanwhile, if cycling is where your heart lies, there is track cycling happening now at Lee Valley Velopark.

Elsewhere, mixed team badminton action is unfolding at the NEC Hall 5, where Malaysia are leading South Africa 1-0 on one court. On the next court, it is still Jamaica 0-0 Zambia.
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4:27 pm  

Uganda's neighbours Kenya are taking on Australia in women's hockey at the University of Birmingham Hockey and Squash Centre.

It is the second quarter and the Australians are leading 4-0.

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4:23 pm   |   Malaysia's Bidin retains weightlifting title

Malaysia's Muhamad Aznil Bin Bidin wins and takes the gold medal in the men's 65kg weightlifting. By doing so, he retains the title he won on the Gold Coast in 2018. Morea Baru of Papua New Guinea bags silver while India's Gururaja Gururaja takes bronze.

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4:15 pm 

England are playing Malawi in a Group B netball duel at the NEC Arena. Every time the hosts score, the dominantly-home crowd erupts into jubilation.

England are leading 18-9 in the opening quarter and will be hoping to make it two successive wins after beating Trinidad and Tobago on Friday. Uganda are also in this group, with New Zealand and Northern Ireland.

Earlier, Australia beat Scotland 83-30 in Group A.
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3:48 pm 

Sometimes, it never goes quite as planned - even after years and months of preparation.

Wales' Lowri Thomas crashed as she competesd with compatriot Rhian Edmunds in the women's sprint 1/8 finals

India's Sargar Sanket Mahadev got injured as he competed in the men's 55kg weightlifting event. But it was not all for nothing. He went on to secure silver in the event.

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3:24 pm  |    Historic marathons

So, Birmingham continues to give, doesn't it?

The two marathons have each offered a bit of history from the winners. Victor Kiplangat becomes the first Ugandan to win a Commonwealth marathon gold while Australian Jessica Stenson is the first woman to win a marathon medal at three consecutive Commonwealth Games.
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3:19 pm 

Ugandan Linet Toroitich Chebet finishes in 10th place.
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3:09 pm  |    🥇 GOLD FOR AUSTRALIA'S STENSON! 🇦🇺

Australia's Jessica Stenson becomes the first woman in history to win a marathon medal at three successive Commonwealth Games. She took bronze in Glasgow and on the Gold Coast, and now gold in Birmingham, after clocking 2:27.31.

Margaret Wangari Muriuki takes silver, as 2018 champion Namibian Helalia Johannes settles for bronze.
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3:07 pm    

Malaysia's Mohamad Aniq Bin Kasdan breaks into celebration after winning gold in the mens 55kg weightlifting event.

India's Sargar Sanket Mahadev takes silver, as  Dilanka Isuru Kumara Yodage of Sri Lanka gets bronze.

At the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, Scotland's Duncan Scott competes in the men's 200m freestyle heats.

Canada's Kylie Masse competes during the women's 100m backstroke heats.

At the Lee Valley VeloPark, Canada's Michael Foley competes in the men's 4000m individual pursuit qualifying round.

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2:53 pm    

Australian Jessica Stenson appears to have broken her closest challenger, Margaret Wangari Muriuki, and has now created a huge gap between herself and the Kenyan in he closing stages of the women's marathon.

A BIG move from the Aussie!

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2:39 pm    

And there is more swimming at the Aquatics Centre today.

As well as track cycling.

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2:32 pm    

Australian Jessica Stenson is leading a Kenyan and a Namibian at the front with under 40 minutes of running left in the women's marathon. Tanzanian Failuna Matanga is attempting to attach herself to that leading pack to enter the medals fray but she has a lot of ground to make.

Ugandan Linet Toroitich Chebet is long out of the picture.
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2:23 pm    

The leading group in the women's marathon has reached the 30km mark. A dozen kilometres ahead in this exhausting race.
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2:02 pm    

Let us not forget about the women's marathon. It is a race of plots and sub-plots, with the Australians giving the Africans a run for their money.

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1:56 pm    

Sri Lanka's Dilanka Isuru Kumara Yodage has required some personal vocal drive to lift the iron in the men's 55kg weightlifting event at the NEC Arena.

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1:47 pm  |    🥇 GOLD FOR UGANDA'S KIPLANGAT! 🇺🇬

As you can imagine, Uganda is buzzing with excitement from Kiplagat's golden victory in the men's marathon. President Yoweri Museveni has led his fellow countrymen and women in congratulating the 22-year-old history-making athlete.

"Thank you, my son Victory Kiplangat," he tweets in the runner's local dialect.

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1:20 pm  |    🥇 GOLD FOR UGANDA'S KIPLANGAT! 🇺🇬

Kiplangat comes through ahead of Tanzanian Alphonse Felix Simbu, who takes silver, and Kenyan Michael Mugo Githae bags bronze.

Australia's Adam Liam Adams, who led the group through the first half of the race, finishes fourth, as Kenyan Jonathan Kipleting Korir completes the top five cast.
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1:18 pm  |    🥇 GOLD FOR UGANDA'S KIPLANGAT! 🇺🇬

It is victory for Victor Kiplangat, as he powers through to cross the finish line in 2:10.55 to become the first Ugandan to win a Commonwealth Games marathon gold medal.

After initially sticking with the front group for more than half of this gruelling race, the 22-year-old mountain and road runner eventually peeled away from the pack, taking Tanzanian Alphonse Felix Simbu along with him.

The Ugandan then enagaged another gear to break free from Simbu to cruise home to a historic gold.

Compatriot Stephen Kiprotich, an Olympic and world marathon champion, will be smiling from ear to ear.

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12:40 pm     |    Women's marathon under way

Meanwhile, the women's marathon has begun, with Ugandan Linet Toroitich Chebet involved in this one.

In the men's marathon, Uganda's Kiplangat and Tanzanian Alphonse Felix Simbu have peeled away from the rest of the front pack.
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12:36 pm     |    Track cycling action

The women's sprint qualifying round at the Lee Valley VeloPark in east London, with India's Triyasha Paul among those in the competition.

England's Blaine Ridge-Davis is also in contention.

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12:23 pm     |    Defying gravity  

As the men battle it out on the road, a group of female competitors are busy defying gravity inside the Arena Birmingham, the host of the women's team final and individual qualification artistic gymnastics event.

Barbados' Erin Pinder, one of them, is seen competing on the horizontal bar.

Jamaica's Danyella Richards is also in contention.

Singapore's Emma Yap is seen here competing on the uneven bars.

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12:13 pm       

The men have run half of the marathon and are now in the second half.

Australian Adams remains in front. Monitoring him closely behind are Tanzanian pair Alphonse Felix Simbu and Hamisi Athumani Misai, Kenyan pair Jonathan Kipleting Korir and Michael Mugo Githae and Uganda's Kiplangat.

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12:04 pm       

We are approaching the midway point of this gruelling 42-kilometre (26-mile) race and Adams has remained consistent at the front of the pack. If he keeps on like this, the Australian could well be on his way to the podium.

The grimace on his face and running style are deceptive, as he has stayed in the lead for most of the race so far.

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11:27 am       

Australia's Liam Adams has decided to place himself at the very front of the race ahead of a chasing pack of Kenyans, Tanzanians and Ugandan Kiplangat.

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11:08 am       

The men's marathon is under way. One Ugandan, in the form of Victor Kiplangat, is in the mix. No pacemakers in this one.

Meanwhile, away from the road, other events happening now include lawn bowls and pra lawn bowls (Victoria Park), badminton (NEC Hall 5), hockey (University of Birmingham Hockey and Squash Centre) and rugby sevens (Coventry Stadium).

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11:00 am  |    🥇 Australia's Rozario wins women's wheelchair marathon ♿️🇦🇺 

Australia's Madison de Rozario crosses the finish line in 1:56.00 to win gold in the women’s T53/T54 wheelchair marathon.
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10:46 am  |    🥇 England's Smith wins men's wheelchair marathon ♿️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

It is another gold medal in the bag for the host nation, England, as Johnboy Smith wins the men’s T53/T54 wheelchair marathon, clocking 1:41.14.

Winner Johnboy Smith cruises to victory

Scotland's Sean Frame takes silver, as England's Simon Lawson bags bronze.

Silver medallist Scotland's Sean Frame

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10:38 am

Day two in central Birmingham has seen the focus turn on women’s and men’s T53/T54 wheelchair marathons, which started at Smithfield and will finish in Victoria Square.

Also part of the marathon programme today will be the men's and women's marathon.

The 42.4km course, which extends to Bournville in the south of Birmingham, is made up of distinct sections. It has an 18km looped southern section, which all athletes will complete twice and a 6.2km section through the city centre.

England's Johnboy Smith is winding down the men's T53/T54 wheelchair marathon, as he powers through the final kilometre of a gruelling race.
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10:32 am

Welcome to day two of Birmingham2022.  It is going to be key highlights on this page from Commonwealth Games action throughout this fine Saturday.
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10:30 am  |   Hello again!

Right from the opening ceremony on Thursday, through the first day of real action on Friday, we have seen the making of a memorable 22nd Commonwealth Games. And I am not daydreaming when I say this could turn out to be the best edition ever.

If you don't agree with me, then maybe - just maybe - you have not watched Kenya's Faheem Ng'ang'a go into full flight mode to make a basket against Sri Lanka in the men's 3x3 basketball at Smithfield.

Or Northern Ireland's Olivia McDonald's attempt to stop New Zealand's Grace Nweke from scoring in their netball match at the NEC Arena.

There has been action on all sorts of surfaces - land, water and air (well, sort of).

In the women's wheelchair 3x3 basketball, Scotland's Robyn Love tries to hold off Australia's Georgia Inglis at Smithfield.

If your interest is the aquatics, then you have definitely seen Canada's Margaret Macneil power to golden victory in the women's 100m butterfly at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre.

Or Australia's Kyle Chalmers beating his swimming challengers to take gold in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.

There has been defying of gravity at the Arena Birmingham. For instance, here below, as England's James Hall competes on the horizontal bar in the men's team final artistic gymnastics event .

Bermuda's Flora Duffy took gold in the women's individual sprint distance triathlon after plunging into the chilly waters with several other competitors on day one.

Another feature of the opening day of action was the different variations of track cycling, where Australia was on a mega medals sweep. Stop them if you can!

There has also been action on the grass, where we have seen Uganda take on neighbours and traditional rivals Kenya in the men's rubgy sevens.

We have also enjoyed the ping-pong exchanges on the tables, as athletes take each other on in feisty table tennis duels.