Commonwealth Games: Birmingham 2022 is Scotland’s best Games outside Glasgow

Birmingham 2022 will be Scotland’s most successful Commonwealth Games outside of Glasgow 2014 after Sam Hickey and Sean Lazzerini won boxing golds and Neah Evans took cycling silver.

And Evans claimed her third medal in the road race, becoming the first female Scottish cyclist to do so.

The 44 medals won so far are comprised of 10 gold, 10 silver, and 24 bronze.

Light-welterweight Reese Lynch will fight for gold later in the day and will, at worst, add another silver.

That takes Scotland past the 44 earned in Gold Coast four years ago, which was the highest return apart from Glasgow 2014, where the team took 53, including 19 golds.

The likes of Laura Muir (1,500m) and Eilish McColgan (5,000m) will go for gold on the track later on Sunday as Scotland look to match the target of the 11 golds – from 29 total medals – won in Melbourne in 2006.

Also on Sunday, Kirsty Gilmour will compete for badminton bronze, as will mixed doubles pair Adam Hall and Julie MacPherson, while squash duo Greg Lobban and Rory Stewart will do likewise on Monday.

Boxing gold rush

Scotland have won a boxing medal at every Commonwealth Games, but the last gold medals came in 2014, when Josh Taylor and Charlie Flynn emerged victorious.

In Birmingham, five of the eight fighters will leave with medals, at least two of them gold in a fantastic return.

Hickey, the 22-year-old from Dundee, started it all of with a blockbuster defeat of talented 19-year-old Peters of Australia.

The pair traded brutal blows throughout, and both landed shots in the final round before the three of the five judges gave Hickey the win. The fighters shared a hug of mutual respect after a gripping bout.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Hickey told BBC Scotland. “I always believed in myself but to get in the ring is easier said, than done. I’m proud of myself. Proud to be Scottish. And proud to be from Dundee.

“I’m so happy. It’s a hard, hard week – just focussing on boxing the whole time. To finally get it done is a weight off my shoulders at the same time.”

Not to be outdone, Barrhead’s Lazzerini performed brilliantly to defeat Bevan, landing a flurry of blows in the final round to ensure he too would take gold.

The 25-year-old performed Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark celebration in the ring afterwards, and was then conducting the crowd through Flower of Scotland as he stood atop the podium.

“Brilliant, but this is just the beginning,” Lazzerini said. “Maybe even tomorrow I’ll train again. What is there to celebrate? There’s not going to be an end, I’ve got to keep progressing.

“It’s been a long road and a lot of people gave up on me. But I never gave up on myself and my family and friends never gave up on me and that’s why I got the gold.”

It’ll be Lynch’s turn to try and make it a Scottish hat-trick of golds in the ring, when he faces Louis Richarno Colin of Mauritius at 15:15 BST.

Evans makes history

Cyclist Evans has been phenomenally consistent throughout the Games, finishing with a personal haul of three medals and a fourth place over the track and road.

She took track silver in the points race and bronze in the individual pursuit in the velodrome last week, and narrowly missed a medal in the scratch race too.

The 31-year-old former vet was less fancied on the road, but worked with team-mate Anna Shackley to finish second in a frantic bunch sprint behind Georgia Baker of Australia.

It capped a fantastic fortnight for Evans, who has been one of the stars of Scotland’s Games.

“It’s going to take a while to sink in, especially because it was in two disciplines,” she said.

“I’d not road raced in three years, so I had no expectation of winning a medal. When it got to the sprint… I don’t even know how far out you’re supposed to go from, so I didn’t realise until I was crossing the line, then I was like ‘oh, right’.”