ISLAND 400m runner Gemma Dawkins is through to the semi-final at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India. The 14-year-old qualified in third place in her heat in a time of 59.46 seconds.
General team manager Paul Huddlestone said she was pleased to have progressed, although he said she was aware that the standard would somewhat higher in the next stage of the under 19 competition. He said: ‘Gemma qualified comfortably for the final – she did not go all-out. She felt confident that she would be able to qualify at that pace, and she did. However she knows that the semi-final is going to be tough, as the other competitors are very, very strong.’
But while there was reason to celebrate for Dawkins this morning, there was disappointment for fellow athlete Stephen de la Haye. The high jumper, who had been aiming to achieve a personal best of 2m, crashed out at 1.90m.
There was further bad news as tennis player Scott Clayton, who was knocked out of the boys’ singles competition in the second round by Indian sixth-seed Sita Ram Sudanwa in straight sets 6-4, 6-0, and for the girls doubles pairing of Katie Gouyette and Kirsten McArthur, who lost their game in the first round against South African duo Monica Gorny and Anastacia Simons 6-4, 6-1. There was a good result for the seeded Charlie Cohen in the boys’ singles, however, as he managed to beat Kiribati’s Uere Katang 6-4, 6-4 in round two despite the sweltering 35°C temperatures.
Huddlestone said: ‘Charlie has played very well in the heat – I don’t know how he has managed to do it, but he has. I think it’s a problem that maybe affected Scott earlier in the day, and the girls. They’ve all played some very competitive matches but it’s absolutely scorching here, especially as it gets later on in the day.’
Cohen, who enjoyed a bye in the first round of the singles, and Clayton play their first round doubles match later today, and Cohen will face his singles third round opponent tomorrow, when the swimming also gets under way.
• Picture: Scott Clayton in action in India this morning. Picture by Paul Guillou
