Commowealth Games recap: Allandale's Jim Aitken helps Scotland win maiden bowls gold

Allandale Bowling Club’s Jim Aitken played in his part in helping Scotland secure the first bowls medal of the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday morning.

The para mixed pairs B2-B3 final took place this morning at the SEC Centre, with director Aitken and his three Scotland team-mates winning gold after a nail-biting final against England. The new two five-end sets format made for an exciting showdown and the match went down to a tie-breaker. England won the first set 7-2 with Scotland restoring parity at 6-3 before taking the tie-break 1-0.

Skip Robert Barr and his director Sarah Jane Ewing won the same event in Birmingham four years ago, and they tasted success again alongside Aitken, who was director to lead Mary Stevenson.

"I'm really delighted for Mary and Robert," the Allandale bowler said. "They've played fantastic all week and they've kept really calm under a lot of stress and a lot of expectation. They've been absolutely fantastic.

“The crowd can really get behind you, and they did. We knew beforehand that this format can be pretty brutal - if you lose, or even win the first set, you know that you are not home and dry. You really have to dig in. We managed to win that second set and take it to the tie break and we were confident in the ability of Mary and Robert to get it over the line.”

Tonight at 8.15pm, Bo’ness para athlete Steven Stone will go for gold in the T20 long jump final at Scotstoun Stadium.

Over the weekend, Falkirk Phoenix Boxing Club’s Stephanie Kernachan finally made her Games debut, going up against Canada’s Scarlett Delgado in the 54kg contest.

The 33-year-old, who came out of retirement to achieve her lifelong goal of reaching a Games, unfortunately lost out in the bantamweight round of 16 clash.

‘I’ll need to hang around now for another four years!,” she said afterwards. “It’s been a lifetime journey to get here. I’ve worked so hard to get here and for the moment to be over so quickly is hard to take.

“I’ve been boxing for 18 years and I wanted my brain to take over but it didn’t really... I wasn’t boxing smart. I was trying to go for it in the first round. I knew I had lost the first round, the second round was closer - I thought I had a chance of sharing the scorecard but that didn’t happen.

“I had nothing left to lose in the third round and that’s when my experience shone through. I started landing the shots I wanted. I had to go for it. I need to hold on to this moment for the rest of my life.”

Former FIRST swimmer Duncan Scott - who won Scotland’s first gold medal - went in the men's 200m butterfly final yesterday, but missed out on a medal finishing fourth.

Falkirk’s Fraser Malcolm meanwhile is still on the hunt for medal glory in the basketball 3x3 with his Scotland team-mates. After a strong group stage, they now face Malaysia this evening (6pm).