James Magnussen and Cameron McEvoy have set the stage for a mouth-watering Commonwealth Games duel by combining to complete a second-night swimming gold rush for Australia.
The fastest two men in the world got the 4x100m freestyle relay team out of a serious spot of bother as they powered home to collect the nation’s fourth gold of the night in the pool.
Thomas Fraser-Holmes (200m freestyle), Leiston Pickett (50m breaststroke) and Maddison Elliott (para-sport 100m freestyle) had earlier won gold on Friday night as Australia also claimed seven minor medals.
That included a surprise third (100m butterfly bronze) to opening-night star Emma McKeon while Fraser-Holmes and McEvoy collected silver medals to complement their gold.
McEvoy and Magnussen combined with Tommaso D’Orsogna and Matt Abood to give the Australian men their first international relay triumph since winning the world title in 2011.
It was all laughs and smiles as the male team further left behind their infamous London Olympic flop.
“It always feels a little bit more special sharing a moment with other guys,” said Magnussen.
“We had a lot of fun tonight.”
World champion Magnussen and national title holder McEvoy will now turn their attention to the individual event, starting on Saturday.
Based on their relay performances, it will be one of the battles of the Games.
South Africa had a healthy lead midway through the relay before Magnussen hauled back the margin with a scintillating 47.49-second split and McEvoy (47.92) streaked away as Australia won in a Games record time of three minutes and 13.44 seconds.
“I don’t read too much into relay splits, we all had a job tonight and we all did it,” Magnussen said.
“I am not sure what everyone else did but I am excited about tomorrow.”
McEvoy had earlier been upset in the men’s 200m freestyle final after Fraser-Holmes delivered on his long-standing potential with a first major international medal.
Fraser-Holmes, 22, timed his race to perfection as he overhauled McEvoy (1:45.56) to win in a season-leading time of 1:45.08.
Fraser-Holmes then backed up to claim silver in the gruelling 400m individual medley in 4:12.04, behind Scotland’s Daniel Wallace (4:11.20), to underline his credentials as a multiple medal prospect for Rio 2016.
“It’s really good when a plan comes off and we’ve been planning for this day for six months,” said Fraser-Holmes, coached by Grant Hackett’s former mentor Denis Cotterell.
Pickett (30.59) looked to have blown her finish but still touched out hot favourite Alia Atkinson of Jamaica (30.67) to defend the surprise title she claimed in Delhi 2010.
Elliott broke the world record on her way to claiming the para-sport S8 women’s 100m freestyle gold in 1:05.32 with fellow Australian Lakeisha Patterson (1:08.98) taking bronze.
Men’s 200m Freestyle, Heats: Cameron McEvoy first, Thomas Fraser-Holmes first and David McKeon second in respective heats, qualified for final.
Men’s 400m Individual Medley, Heats: Thomas Fraser-Holmes third, Travis Mahoney first in respective heats and qualified for final, Jared Gilliland fifth, did not make final.
Women’s 50m Freestyle, Heats: Bronte Campbell first, Cate Campbell first, Melanie Schlanger second in respective heats, qualified for finals.
Men’s 100m Breaststroke, Heats: Christian Sprenger fourth in heats, qualified for final.
Women’s 100m Backstroke, Heats: Belinda Hocking first, Madi Wilson third, Emily Seebohm first in respective heats, qualified for final.
Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, Heats: Australia first, qualified for final.
Women’s Para-Sport 100m Freestyle S8, Heats: Maddison Elliott first, Lakeisha Patterson third, qualified for final.
Australian results
Men’s 50m Butterfly, Final: Chris Wright eighth, Jayden Hadler sixth.
Women’s 50m Breaststroke, Final: Lorna Tonks seventh, Leiston Pickett first.
Men’s 200m Freestyle, Final: Cameron McEvoy second, Thomas Fraser-Holmes first, David McKeon fourth.
Women’s 50m Freestyle, Semi-Finals: Bronte Campbell third, Cate Campbell first, Melanie Schlanger second in respective heats and through to final.
Men’s 100m Breaststroke, Semi-Finals: Christian Sprenger sixth, did not make final.
Women’s 100m Backstroke, Heats: Belinda Hocking and Emily Seebohm first in their respective heats and through to final, Madi Wilson fifth, did not make final.
Women’s 100m Butterfly, Final: Alicia Coutts fourth, Ellen Gandy eighth, Emma McKeon third.
Men’s 400m Individual Medley, Final: Thomas Fraser-Holmes second, Travis Mahoney sixth.
Women’s Para-Sport 100m Freestyle S8, Final: Maddison Elliott first, Lakeisha Patterson third.
Men’s 100m Backstroke, Final: Mitch Larkin second, Ben Treffers fifth, Joshua Beaver third.
Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, Final: Australia won.
Badminton (Emirates Arena):
Mixed Teams Group Play Stage Group D, Preliminaries (Australia v Falkland Island): Australia won 5-0.
Mixed Teams Group Play Stage Group D, Preliminaries (Australia v Canada): Australia lost 2-3.
Boxing (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre Precinct, Hall 4A):
Men’s Bantam (56kg), Welter (69kg), Super Heavy (over 91kg), Preliminaries: Joseph Goodall (over 91kg) won.
Men’s Fly (52kg), Light Heavy (81kg), Preliminaries: Jordan Samardali (81kg) won.
Men’s Welter (69kg), Preliminaries: Daniel Lewis (69kg) won.
Cycling: Track (Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome)
Men’s 4000m Individual Pursuit, Qualification: Jack Bobridge first, Alexander Edmondson second and qualified for final, Miles Scotson sixth and did not make final.
Men’s Sprint, Quarter-Finals: Matthew Glaetzer lost, Peter Lewis won through to semi-finals.
Women’s 3000m Individual Pursuit, Qualification: Amy Cure third, Annette Edmondson second, both through to final.
Men’s Sprint, Semi-Finals, Final: Matthew Glaetzer won ride-off for fifth, Peter Lewis fourth.
Men’s Para-Sport 1000m Time Trial B2 Tandem, Final: Paul Kennedy and Thomas Clarke fourth, Keiran Modra and Jason Niblett second.
Men’s 4000m Individual Pursuit, Final: Jack Bobridge first, Alexander Edmondson second.
Women’s 3000m Individual Pursuit, Final: Amy Cure third, Annette Edmondson second.
Gymnastics: Rhythmic (The Hydro)
Women’s Individual All-Around Final: Jaelle Cohen 14th, Danielle Prince ninth.
Hockey (Glasgow National Hockey Centre, Pitch 1):
Women’s Australia v Wales preliminary match: Australia won 9-0.
Judo (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre Precinct, Hall 3):
Men’s -73kg, -81kg, Preliminaries, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Repechage: Arnie Dickins (73kg) lost, Jake Bensted (73kg) lost in semi-finals and went to bronze medal contest.
Women’s -63kg, -70kg, Preliminaries, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Repechage: Katharina Haecker (63kg) lost in semi-finals and went to bronze medal contest, Sara Collins (70kg) lost, Catherine Arscott (70kg) lost in semi-finals and went to bronze medal contests.
Men’s -73kg, -81kg (Gold and Bronze medal contests): Jake Bensted (73kg) won bronze medal match.
Women’s -63kg, -70kg (Gold and Bronze medal contests): Katharina Haecker (63kg) lost bronze medal match, Catherine Arscott (70kg) lost bronze medal match.
Lawn Bowls (Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre):
08:45 – Men’s Triples Round 3, Section B, Preliminaries (Australia v Papua New Guinea): Australia won 20-10.
11:45 – Men’s Pairs Round 3, Section B, Preliminaries (Australia v Norfolk Island): Australia won 14-10.
11:45 – Women’s Singles Round 3, Section A, Preliminaries: Kelsey Cottrell won.
11:45 – Mixed Para-Sport Mixed Pairs B2/B3 Round 3, Section B, Preliminaries (Australia v Scotland): Joy Forster and Tony Scott lost, to play New Zealand in final.
15:45 – Women’s Fours Round 4, Section A, Preliminaries (Australia v Cook Islands): Australia won 19-6.
15:45 – Men’s Triples Round 4, Section B, Preliminaries (Australia v England): Australia won 17-15.
18:45 – Men’s Pairs Round 4, Section B, Preliminaries (Australia v Jersey): Australia won 15-14.
18:45 – Women’s Singles Round 4, Section A, Preliminaries: Kelsey Cottrell lost.
Shooting: (Barry Buddon Shooting Centre, Carnoustie)
Women’s 10m Air Pistol, Qualification: Lalita Yauhleuskaya second, qualified for final, Emily Esposito 11th.
Men’s Skeet, Qualification: Paul Adams third, Keith Ferguson ninth.
Women’s Skeet, Qualification: Laura Coles first and qualified for semi-finals, Lauryn Mark fourth and qualified for semi-finals.
Men’s 10m Air Rifle, Qualification: Jack Rossiter 10th, Dane Sampson seventh, qualified for final.
Open Queen’s Prize Pairs, Qualification: in progress, Geoff Grenfell, James Corbett.
Men’s 10 Air Rifle, Final: Dane Sampson eighth.
Women’s 10m Air Pistol, Final: Lalita Yauhleuskaya fourth.
Women’s Skeet, Semi-Finals: Laura Coles first and qualified for final, Lauryn Mark sixth.
Women’s Skeet, Final: Laura Coles won gold.
Squash (Scotstoun Sports Campus):
Men’s Singles Round of 16, Preliminaries: Cameron Pilley won, Ryan Cuskelly lost.
Women’s Singles Round of 16, Preliminaries: Kasey Brown lost.
Men’s Singles Round of 16, Preliminaries: Steven Finitsis lost.
Women’s Singles Round of 16, Preliminaries: Rachael Grinham lost.
Table Tennis (Scotstoun Sports Campus):
Men’s Team Round 1, Preliminaries, (Australia v Zambia): Australia won 3-0.
Men’s Team Round 1, Preliminaries, (Australia v Canada): Australia won 3-1.
Weightlifting (Clyde Auditorium):
Men’s 62kg Group B, Preliminaries: Vannara Be second.
Women’s 53kg Group A, Final: Socheata Be (53kg) seventh, Erika Ropati-Frost (53kg) fifth.
