Last Updated: 20:06
On Day Three came a second medal at the Gibraltar 2019 NatWest International Island Games, as Ffion Roberts stormed to a bronze medal in the Women’s 400m event on Tuesday afternoon.
After winning Heat Three on Sunday, Roberts had a day’s rest before competing in the final at Lathbury Sports Complex on Tuesday evening, where a time of 58.53s was enough to secure the bronze medal, two tenths off beating an Ynys Mon record in the event as well. This is a first appearance at the International Island Games for the 19-year-old athlete, so securing a medal in her very first event is a huge milestone for the young prospect.
Ynys Mon’s first medal winner of the Games, Patrick Harris – who bagged a bronze in the Shot Putt Final on Monday evening – went for another medal in the Discus Final on Tuesday night, but couldn’t quite get ahead of a very tight field and into the medal positions. His effort of 37.55m was good enough for sixth place in the standings, less than 2.5m away from the gold-medal-winning effort of Saaremaa’s Herkki Leemet, so a fantastic showing for the 18-year-old.
Elsewhere in the Athletics, Gethin Hughes finished third in a tight final field of 110m Hurdles runners, however due to there being a reduced number of participants competing in the event there was no bronze medal up for grabs – but take nothing away from what was a great performance from the young athlete!
In the 4x100m relay races the Men’s and Women’s squads performed very well, but unfortunately neither of them advanced in the competition. The Women’s finished fourth in what was a very strong heat, whereas the Men’s team didn’t finish as one of their athletes pulled up with a significant injury midway through the race at a time when the team were looking like they may progress. Despite not qualifying for the next round, there were very encouraging signs for the squads going forward into the remaining races.
In the Women’s 1500m race Lucy Lawrence did very well to finish in the middle of a very competitive field with a time of 5:20.50 good for seventh spot in the standings – congratulations to all of the athletics squad for their fantastic efforts on Day Three.
Over in the Badminton, there were wins for both Lowri Jones and Mathew Rankenhohn in the Singles events, as Jones progressed to the Round of 32 with a win against opposition from Gotland before being beaten by Guernsey’s Chloe Le Tissier. Rankenhohn won two matches and booked himself a place in the Round of 16 which takes place tomorrow, after topping two opponents from Gibraltar in today’s action.
In the remaining singles and doubles matches, Ynys Mon’s squad competed very well but were unable to progress further in those disciplines. Rankenhohn will face opposition from Jersey tomorrow, with other singles matches in the plate competition, before moving on to the Mixed Doubles on Thursday.
Cycling recommenced today as Ynys Mon’s Men’s and Women’s squads took part in the Individual and Team Time Trial events which involved a gruelling ride up the Rock of Gibraltar for the finish of the race.
The Women’s squad placed seventh in the Team Event, with Sally Rigg finishing 13th in the Individual timings, Ceri Jones 25th, Annie Glover 28th and Tamara Walton-Evans 29th. Nic Owen finished 34th in the Men’s Individual Time Trial with Ynys Mon’s Robert Mansell in 42nd place, but both were just a few minutes behind the leading pack. Another rest day awaits on Wednesday for the Cycling squads before going into the Road Race event on Thursday.
A second-placed finish in Race Six of the Sailing was secured by Ynys Mon’s Dominic Breen-Turner, after Race Five was called off due to very difficult weather conditions. Breen-Turner has performed very well in the event and is among the leading racers overall as the event progresses towards it’s conclusion later in the week.
There were encouraging performances again in the Shooting events from Ynys Mon’s squad as a 13th-placed finish was secured in the Olympic Trap Team Final and Dave Jones and Stephen Hays finished 10th and 11th respectively in the Olympic Open Skeet Individual Event. Tomorrow (Wednesday), Ynys Mon compete in Individual Qualification events and will be hoping to continue their development in the competition.
The Swimming squads secured spots in four finals in what was their second day of competition as Emily Williams contested the 200m Breaststroke Final, Michael Leonard made it to the 50m Breaststroke Final, Eve Goddard-Smith battled in the 50m Butterfly Final and the Men’s 4x50m Freestyle Relay team reached a final.
Medals weren’t forthcoming in any of the events, but the effort put in by all of the swimmers was second to none, including Llion Myers and Hollie Tomblin who were unlucky not to progress from their prelim races.
It was Mixed Doubles day in the Ten-Pin Bowling in the third straight day of competition for all of the squads – something Ynys Mon’s players aren’t used to at all, but it is testament to their quality and effort that they continue to compete so well. The Team Event is to follow tomorrow and Thursday.
In the tennis there were two straight-sets defeats for Dave Parry and Sion Myers against strong opposition in the Round of 32 and Round of 16 respectively, but both will have a chance to bounce back straight away as they compete in the Doubles competition on Wednesday morning at 9am.
For a full list of results and times, head over to www.gibraltar2019results.com, where you can find records, schedules, fact-files and all sorts of information about the various events and get all the latest official results as they come in.
Ynys Môn Island Games Association 