Geraint Jones of Wales, left, tries to tackle New Zeland's
Hosea Gear in their rugby sevens quarterfinal match during
the Commonwealth Games at Delhi University in New Delhi,
India. Photo by AP.
There was a lull before a potential medals storm for New
Zealand early on the ninth day of competition at the
Commonwealth Games in New Delhi today.
The New Zealand sevens rugby team edged closer to securing a
fourth successive Games gold medal by dismantling Wales 31-10
in their quarterfinal.
Their golden ambitions were further boosted when reigning
sevens world series champions Samoa were surprisingly
eliminated at the same stage after losing 5-7 to England, who
the New Zealanders confront in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for early tomorrow morning (NZT),
shortly before Nick Willis lines up to defend his 1500m title
on the track.
All going well, the sevens team and 2008 Olympic silver
medallist Willis are being looked upon to provide a double
dose of golden news for the New Zealand contingent whose gold
medal harvest remains at a modest two, through individual
pursuit track cyclist Alison Shanks and shot putter Valerie
Adams.
New Zealand remain in medals contention in the squash mixed
doubles also after mates battled mates in today's
quarterfinals before Joelle King and Martin Knight beat
compatriots Grayson Campbell and Jaclyn Hawkes 11-6 11-9.
Elsewhere, 14-year-old Wellington schoolgirl Gabe
Armstrong-Scott qualified for her second diving final,
advancing in 11th place in the 1m springboard, her backup
event. She scored 222.50 points for her five dives.
Yesterday, she finished 10th in the 10m platform, breaking
300 points for the first time to set a New Zealand record.
The men's hockey team hit a yellow brick wall in the form of
Australia in their semifinal, losing 2-6 to the three-time
Games gold medallists.
New Zealand trailed 0-4 before hitting back with goals to
Blair Hilton and Phil Burrows only to watch Australia add
another two to provide an exclamation mark.
At least the New Zealand side have the opportunity to secure
a bronze medal, against either England or India on Thursday,
something out of the reach of shooters Sally Johnston and
Julie Etherington, who finished ninth and 11th, respectively,
in the 50m prone rifle singles event.
Yang Sun and Jenny Hung bowed out of the table tennis women's
doubles after going down 9-11 11-7 10-12 7-11 in the
quarterfinals to Australians Vivian Tan and Peri
Campbell-Innes.
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