Games briefing

Table Tennis: Herbert and Baggaley to the rescue

England's Gareth Herbert and Andrew Baggaley claimed the doubles gold at the Commonwealth Games with a tense 3-2 win over Ryan Jenkins and Adam Robertson of Wales. The English partnership fought their way back from 5-1 and 9-6 down in the deciding game and then survived a clutch of match points from the Welsh pair to win 11-9 11-3 8-11 11-9 17-15. Earlier had been among the England trio who lost in the singles quarter-finals. Herbert never recovered from a slow start, losing 13-11 11-8 11-6 4-11 11-8 to Chetan Baboor. Matthew Syed had been unbeaten in all previous events in Manchester, but he could not cope with Singapore's Yong Duan as he went down 11-8 5-11 6-11 11-7 11-3 11-5. Alex Perry was out-played by Nigeria's Segun Toriola, losing 11-6 12-10 11-3 9-11 13-11.

Shooting: Brekke error costs bronze

Johanne Brekke, who won gold in the women's 50m rifle prone pairs earlier this week, was left ruing the last-shot miss which cost her a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games women's 50m prone rifle at Bisley. The Welshwoman, who came fifth behind the Scot Susan Jackson, finished on 586 out of 600 but lost the bronze on count-back to New Zealand's Juliet Etherington. Gold and silver were also decided on count-back with Australia's Kim Frazer edging South Africa's Esmari van Reenan.

Squash: Jackman and Bailey in final

Cassie Jackman and Tania Bailey guaranteed themselves at least a silver in the women's doubles after beating their England team-mates Linda Charman and Fiona Geaves to reach the final. It was a dramatic encounter won 15-3 16-17 17-15 by the third seeds, with the vanquished pair at least having the consolation of a bronze medal. Geaves warmed up for the match by securing herself a medal in the mixed doubles by reaching the last four with Chris Walker. In doing so Geaves overcame the dominant female player, Sarah Fitz-Gerald, for the second successive day, defeating the Australian 17-16 13-15 15-7, this time with Paul Price. The top seeds Geaves and Walker were, however, denied a possible clash with Stephanie Brind and Paul Johnson in today's final after their team-mates missed out on a medal when they were beaten by the Australkian partnerhip of Joe Kneipp and Robyn Cooper.

Bowls: Weale guarantees medal for Wales

The Welshman Robert Weale guaranteed himself a bronze medal in the singles by beating Scotland's Darren Burnett, scoring a thrilling 21-18 victory after 25 ends. Northern Ireland's Jeremy Henry also claimed a bronze medal after coming from 6-0 behind in the fifth end to surge to a marvelous 21-11 triumph over Zambian Eddie Nkole. England endured a miserable opening session ona sunny day at Heaton Park. In the women's pairs, Lynne Whitehead and Amy Gowshall saw their medal hopes destroyed by South Africa's Ellen Cawker and Jill Hacklan in their 23-12 semi-final defeat. The Welsh duo Joanna Weale and Anwen Butten also crashed out 20-11 to New Zealand's Sharon Sims and Joanna Edwards in another one-sided semi-final. England's Mervyn King also saw his medal hopes evaporate as South African Robert John Donnelly brushed him aside 21-7 in the quarter-finals.

Hockey: Australia settle for third

Australia, the defending champions, had to settle for the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games hockey beating New Zealand 4-3 in a disappointing, low key game full of basic errors, writes Bill Colwill. Indeed neither side looked interested. After going into the interval 2-2, two Australian goals inside two minutes from Ngaire Smith and Katrina Powell killed off the Kiwi's hopes although the Australia defence opened up seven seconds from time for Suzie Pearce to close the gap for the final score line.