'Room for improvement' for Rhys McClenaghan in Commonwealth Games glory bid

The Newtonards gymnast scored 14.5 over his qualifying routine across Friday afternoon to lead the field ahead of a final subdivision after which he sat third.

“There is room for improvement for sure on that routine, it was a lower difficulty than I had planned but we executed it well,” said McClenaghan enjoying top spot ahead of the evening scores to confirm the eight finalists. “We got in the nines in the execution and that was this season's best score for me, so yeah, I'm happy with it for now.

"But we'll improve on it for the future.

“It's just about getting the job done, getting into the final and that's the main goal of today, but every routine I do in training or in competition, I'm trying to do it well and to the best of my ability and progress on it every time.

“There's obviously the main goal of trying to make the final, but then there's those little goals that you're also trying to hit as a gymnast too.”

McClenaghan will analyse his performance before Monday’s final.

“I'm definitely going to go back, get my hands on the footage and just look at it closely, see why I downgraded it, why I was feeling a little bit off balance during the moments,” he said. “This is what I do every day in training as well...I take the routines, the footage of it and watch it, sift through it very, very closely, so I'll be doing the same with today's routine.

“There is a lot more to come in the final, I was really happy with the execution score I feel like I can even improve on that execution score even more and then with the difficulty, that just brings the entire score right up and we want to be pushing into the 15s.

"And then that's back to world-leading scores and that's where we want to be.”

McClenaghan is relishing being Olympic champion and isn’t feeling any added pressure.

“When you hear your name being announced beside two world titles, three European titles and an Olympic title, you can only stand tall and be proud of your achievements,” he said. “So, hopefully, we keep adding to that tally.”

McClenaghan competed in the floor exercise for the first time since 2018 and looked set for a place in the final except for a error at the end of his routine.

“It wasn't a gamble at all that was a really good floor routine I'd done up until the dismounts,” he said. “And I just went for that stick on the landing and just got a bit complacent...it's annoying, it's frustrating because that might have landed me in a floor final at the Commonwealth Games and then put me in contention for medals.

“It's a bit of a shame, but I am just happy to be back competing floor and it's a feat I'm proud of, for sure.”

Team NI bowler and flag-bearer Gary Kelly continued his strong start in the men’s singles with a straight-sets 2-0 victory over former world champion Shannon McIlroy from New Zealand.

"Obviously really, really proud of that performance and it was fantastic to get the win there and go two for two,” said Kelly. “I felt comfortable, I found the rank early, which is always important...look, Shannon McElroy is an incredible player, he's a fantastic competitor and athlete - a lot of respect for him.

"It made me try and stay focused and concentrate as much as possible and I think that I could put a good performance in against him.”

Kelly was Thursday’s Team NI flag-bearer for the official opening ceremony, alongside Bethany Firth as baton-bearer.

“It was a surreal moment...very, very proud,” he said. “What a feeling on behalf of all the athletes for Team Northern Ireland and to be the flag-bearer for everyone and represent Northern Ireland was a very emotional and very proud moment.”

Chole Wilson and Shauna O'Neill made it two wins out of two in the women's pairs with a straight-sets defeat of Niue.

It was a disappointing start in the ring for the boxers as Louis Rooney was knocked out during the second round of his bantamweight fight in the last 32 by Lesotho's Mathealira Seholoholo.