COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Danielle Hill ready for final flourish towards swimming glory

The 18-year-old Larne competitor closed out her last-four appearance in 25.80 seconds to progress into the showpiece stage as the eighth fastest qualifier.

The 100m backstroke semi-final failed to match her freestyle progress as she reached that stage in 1:03.08.

Conor Ferguson’s final in the men’s 100m backstroke led to eighth off 55.01 seconds. It proved frustrating as Ferguson’s time was slower than 54.48 set in the semi-finals.

Eight-hundredths of a second proved the difference for Jordan Sloan as he missed out on the 200m freestyle final, with James Brown 21st.

The 100m breaststroke ended in a disqualification for Jamie Graham. The men’s 4x100m relay team of Curtis Coulter, Calum Bain, David Thompson and Sloan came home seventh overall as a result of Sri Lanka’s disqualification.

Para-swimming’s Barry McClements set then beat his Personal Best time towards seventh in the men’s S9 100m freestyle.

Steven Donnelly came out on top over Wales’ Kyran Jones thanks to a points decision on four of the five judges’ scorecards in the middleweight 75kg division. He will next step into the ring on Sunday to face Gilbrilla Kamara.

In table tennis, Owen Cathcart and Paul McCreery secured singles win before both teamed up for doubles delight in a 3-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago by 3-1. England provide Saturday’s quarter-final opponents thanks to a 3-0 success over Mauritius off singles wins by Ashley Robinson and McCreery before the latter and Cathcart won the doubles.

Catherine Beattie beat Malia Kioa of Tonga by 21-13 to maintain hopes of bowls medal success in the women’s singles.

Gary Kelly and Ian McClure remain in the running over the men’s doubles despite a 20-16 reverse to South Africa and take on Wales on Saturday for a quarter-final spot.

The men’s triples and women’s fours fell short against, respectively, Cook Islands and Malta.