Don't forget to watch Spotlight Channel Islands at 18:30 on BBC One on Monday 27 March for an exclusive special programme of all the Jersey action and highlights from the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
SUNDAY 26 MARCH (FINAL DAY - DAY ELEVEN) Cycling He was first Jersey team member into the arena at the opening ceremony, and he was the last to perform - but no success for Sam Firby in the 166 km Road Race. He didn't finish the race, leaving it after lap 6 of 15, when lying in 73rd place out of 131 riders. His total time for the six laps was 1:41:25. But perhaps there was some consolation for Elizabeth Cann (see below) who was chosen to lead the Jersey team into the arena at today's closing ceremony. SATURDAY 25 MARCH (DAY TEN) Badminton Elizabeth Cann lost her bronze medal playoff, and with it Jersey's hopes of winning a medal in the women's singles badminton earlier this morning.
 | | Elizabeth Cann in action |
The match, against Scotland's Susan Hughes, was taken to three games and Cann missed out on the bronze by the narrowest of margins. Things looked rather bleak for the Jersey player at the beginning of her match, several unforced errors left her trailing behind Hughes, she was 11-3 down at the mid-game interval and never got the chance to catch up, loosing the opening game 21-5. The tables were well and truly turned in the second game, Cann took the lead from early on and didn't let Hughes in to win the game 21-13 and take the match into a third set. The final game to decide the medal couldn't have been closer, or more exciting. Neither girl was letting the other one in, although Cann managed to pull away slightly to lead 11-8 at the mid-game interval. Susan Hughes caught back and both players refused to give anything away to find themselves drawing at nineteen all. The Scot took the next point to give her one match point. She seized the opportunity to win the bronze and left Cann and Jersey without a medal. Hockey Some consolation for Jersey as Becky Herbert has won a bronze medal as part of the women's hockey team, after defeating New Zealand in a penatly shoot-out.
 | | Becky with her bronze medal (c) AFP/Getty |
England went into the match very much the underdogs as New Zealand beat them 4-0 in the group stage earlier in the week. However, neither side would budge and after two goalless periods of extra time the bronze needed to be decided on penalties. Things looked shaky for the English side when they missed their first penalty and New Zealand smashed one into the back of the net. However, things soon turned around as Becky's team went on to score three times without reply from the New Zealanders. Shooting Elsewhere in Melbourne Dave Ward and Marcus Hill finished in fourteenth and sixteenth place respectively in the 25m standard pistol shooting event. Ward scored 544 points, trailing the leader by 37, whilst Hill was not far behind his team-mate on 541 points. FRIDAY 24 MARCH (DAY NINE) Badminton Elizabeth Cann is Jersey's last chance of a medal at this year's Commonwealth Games, she made it to the semi-finals of the women's singles where she met England's top seed Tracey Hallam.
 | | England's Tracey Hallam (c) Getty Images |
The first game was a case of point for point between the two players before Hallam seized some chances in the final rallies to take the first game 21-18. Tracey Hallam cruised away with the next game, by the mid-game interval Cann was trailing three points to Hallam's eleven, and she never really got back in the game which Hallam eventually won 21-8. Hallam now goes into the final where she will meet Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia, who knocked out Jersey's Solenn Pasturel yesterday. Cann will meet Scotland's Susan Hughes in the bronze medal playoff where she hopes to bring home in all liklihood Jersey's one and only medal from Melbourne. To reach the semi-finals Cann had a comfortable victory over India's number one Lalji Aparna Popat earlier today in her quarter-final match, which she took in straight games; 21-13, 21-14. Despite Cann being unseeded, Hallam, who took home the silver medal at the last Games, had every reason to be nervous of taking on her training partner, last time they met in a competitive match it was the 2005 National Championships and the Jersey player emerged victorious. Hallam strolled through her own quarter final match earlier today beating New Zealand's Rachel Hindley in two straight games. Lawn Bowls Karina Bisson has won all three of her classification games leaving her with the best position she could possibly have achieved after narrowly missing out on a quarter-final spot yesterday. She's beaten Scottish player Margaret Latham and England's Ellen Faulkner to finish ninth overall. Allan Quemard has finished all his play-off matches and has been left in eighteenth position in a field of twenty-four bowlers. Shooting Dave Ward took part in the Centre Fire Pistol Shooting event this morning, and started well with a good score in the precision section before dropping several points in the rapid round to finish thirty-seven points behind the leader with a score of five hundred and forty-one. THURSDAY 23 MARCH (DAY EIGHT) Badminton Great news for Jersey's medal prospects and great news for Elizabeth Cann when shebeat Canada's Charmaine Reid in two straight games, securing her a place in the quarter-finals.
 | | Charmaine Reid (c) AFP/Getty Images |
She took the first game 21-16 and breezed through the second to win it 21-12; a fantastic result against a tough opponent who beat Elizabeth in the ladies' doubles as part of the team event last week. Cann will now meet India's Olympic badminton player Lalji Popat, who took the singles bronze medal home at the last Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Not such good news for team mate Solenn Pasturel who will not be joining her in the final eight having been knocked out of the competition by Mew Choo Wong, in two straight sets. She lost the first game to Wong, who's a member of last week's gold medal winning Malaysian team, 21-6 with a slight improvement in the second game when she managed to get eleven points off Wong. Bowls Disappointment for Karina Bisson today in the bowls when she narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter finals despite beating group leader Maria Rigby from Australia in a close match.
 | | Australia's Maria Rigby (c) Getty Images |
Karina lost the first set, but went on to win the second one by just a single point before taking the match on the tie-break. Three wins and one loss in her group matches left her on level pegging with both Maria and Betty Morgan from Wales. The decision on who qualified came down to the difference in number of sets won and Karina lost out to the other two players by one set. She is left to settle her overall bowls standing by competing in three playoff matches, the first two of which she has won; beating England's Ellen Faulkner and Scotland's Magaret Latham. If she wins her final playoff against the Cook Island's Tangata Tokorangi she will finish in 9th place, not a bad feat out of 20 of the world's best bowls players. Although already unable to qualify Allan Quemard has been victorious in his final match in the preliminary group round. He beat Mia Tuteru from the Cook Islands in two straight sets. After finishing fifth in his group he too will have three playoff matches to determine his final position in the men's singles bowls where the best he can hope for is 17th place, although this is unlikely as he was beaten in his first playoff by Martin McHugh of Northern Ireland. His final bowls match of the Games is tomorrow when he is meeting Leslie Legatule of Niue. Derek Boswell and Gus McKinnon have finished in twelfth position after losing all three of their playoff matches, the last of which they lost earlier today when they were beaten in a tie break by New Zealand's Rowan Brassey and Jamie Hill. Shooting Full bore shooters David Le Quesne and Richard Benest both managed to improve their positions by two places in their third and final day of competition. David ended up in 22nd and Richard finished in 24th place. Hockey Becky Herbert can hope for a bronze medal at best as part of the England hockey team as they have lost their semi-final match against Australia, 3-0. The England side will now have to face New Zealand in the bronze medal match after they were beaten by India in the other semi-final. New Zealand beat England 4-0 in the group stage. WEDNESDAY 22 MARCH (DAY SEVEN) Bowls Jersey's ladies bowls pairs came agonisingly close to winning the bronze medal, before having to settle for a very well-earned 4th place, just like the Triples earlier in the week. It continues the long line of near misses for Jersey bowlers in recent Commonwealth Games.
 | | Gaynor Thomas in fine bowling action (c) Getty |
In the bronze medal play-off early this morning, Sue Dingle and Gaynor Thomas were beaten by New Zealand's Marina and Jan Khan on the very last shot of a tie break, with just one inch the difference between winning and losing. Earlier, Jersey won the first set 8-3, before The Khans took the second set 11-5. This result means there have been six occasions in the last two Games where Jersey bowlers have been one win off a medal. So the only medal hope left in bowls is Karina Bisson in the singles, who had to win her remaining two group matches to qualify. And she's kept her hopes alive by winning the first of those on a tie-break win against Essie Sanchez of Norfolk Island. Karina lost the first set 5-7 and things looked bleak at 4-8 with three ends to go in the second, but she fought back well to take the match into a tie-break, which she won 2-0. This is where it gets complicated. To qualify for the quarter-finals, Karina will have to either beat Australia by a massive score, like 9-0, 9-0, (to go above Australia on shots difference) or at least beat them by more points than Wales beat Canada. (Wales and Jersey have equal points and equal shots difference). Or, to make it simple, beat Australia and keep her fingers crossed!
 | | The Khan sisters celebrate their bronze (c) Getty |
And at last, at his fourth attempt, a win for Allan Quemard in the mens singles - although he can't qualify, he enjoyed a very good victory over South Africa's Gerald Baker 5-6, 16-3 and 2-1 on the tie break. Disappointment for Derek Boswell and Gus McKinnon as they lose their second playoff match for 9th - 12th place. The Jersey boys started off strong and were leading the first set 7-2 going into the last three ends, however Northern Ireland's Noel Graham and Jonathan Ross made a comeback and scraped a win 8-7. The second set was a more comfortable victory for the Irishmen, beating our boys 9-5. Boswell and McKinnon now have one match left to play, against New Zealand, which will decide whether they finish in 10th, 11th or 12th position. Badminton It's been a very good day for Jersey in Badminton's ladies singles, with both our girls reaching the last 16 without any hassle.
 | | Pasturel beat Australia's Erin Carroll (c) Getty |
Elizabeth Cann continued her great form to easily dispose of Juliette Ah-Wan of the Seychelles in round two, 21-10, 21-4. Not to be outdone, Solenn Pasturel made light work of beating home favourite Erin Carroll, again in straight sets, 21-10, 21-16. That's two Australians in two days that our Jersey girls have sent home. The 3rd round matches are tomorrow and it's going to be tough for both players. Elizabeth Cann is facing Canada's Charmaine Reid, who is yet to drop a game in any of her matches (in the singles or team event). Solenn Pasturel will meet Mew Chew Wong, who was a member of the Malaysian squad which won gold in the team event earlier this week.
 | | Geoff Bellingham (c) AFP/Getty Images |
Jersey's Gavin Carter is out of the mens singles, after losing to the top-ranked New Zealander Geoff Bellingham, 21-8, 21-8. And no luck either for our mixed doubles of Carter and Lucy Burns, who went out to Christoffel Dednam and Kerry-Lee Harrington of South Africa, 21-10, 21-16. Shooting In the 10 metres Air Pistol event, David Ward finished just 7 points off a final place with a score of 566, to finish the qualifying round in 16th position. Mike Quenault was further behind in 27th, with a score of 549. Steve Le Couillard finished 25th and Kevin de Gruchy 27th in the qualification match in the 50 metre Rifle Prone. Le Couillard scored 580, and de Gruchy 579. A score of 591 would have got them into the final. TUESDAY 21 MARCH (DAY SIX) Athletics Lauren Therin took part in the women's discus final. Despite improving with each of her three throws she failed to make the final round of throws. Her opening throw reached 44.21m, her second 45.56m and her final 46.96m was approaching her personal and seasonal best of 47.25m. Bowls Jersey's ladies bowls pairs team appear to be following the fortunes of the triples, but will be hoping to go one better. Sue Dingle and Gaynor Thomas reached the semi-finals in Melbourne following a quarter-final win against Zambia on a tie-break, after sharing the sets 8-7, 5-8. But Scotland's Joyce Lindores and Kay Moran easily won the semi-final in straight sets, 11-4, 10-3. It now means a bronze medal play-off for the Jersey pair against New Zealand's Marina Khan and Jan Khan, who Sue and Gaynor beat in 2 straight sets when they met them in the group qualifying stages earlier in the Games. Allan Quemard has yet to register a win in the singles after three matches, after going down to Fiji's Caucau Turagabeci, and won't now qualify for the later stages. Derek Boswell and Gus McKinnon lost the first of their playoffs for 9th to 12th place, beaten by David Akaruru and Glenford Porter of the Cook Islands after sharing the first set and losing the second. Badminton There's been a very encouraging start for Jersey's professional players Elizabeth Cann and Solenn Pasturel in the ladies badminton singles, with both comfortably through to the second round.
 | | Cann beat Australia's Foong Cheah (c) Getty Images |
Cann easily beat Foong Cheah of Australia 21-6, 21-5, to set up a second round tie with Juliette Ahwan of the Seychelles - while Pasturel beat Fiona Ssozi of Uganda 21-5, 8-2, Ssozi retiring in that second game - and she'll now meet Australia's Erin Carroll. But Clive Dunford is out of the mens singles. He lost in two close games to Steve Malcouzane of the Seychelles. 22-20, 21-15. Dunford and Gavin Carter also missed out in the Mens doubles, going down to Singapore's Hendri Saputra & Ronald Susilo 21-11, 21-9 - mirroring the result in the Team competition earlier in the week. Swimming
 | | Du Feu was 'absolutely delighted' with his team. |
Swimming, and well done to our men's four by 100 medley relay team, who ousted Guernsey by just one second into 9th place in the heats and qualified for the finals with a time of 4:01.53. They knocked a further half a second off this time in the final, where they came 8th, nearly 5 seconds behind the 7th place Singapore team. The Jersey lads time of 4:00.92 shows just how much swimming has improved over the last decade; it smashes the island long course record for this event, which was swum back in 1996, by nearly 17 seconds. Swimming coach Paul du Feu is "absolutely delighted" with the performance of his team in a pool that he can only describe as having a "crazy atmosphere". Cycling Jersey's flag-bearing cyclist Sam Firby finished 27th out of 70 riders in cycling's 40 kilometre time trial. His time of 56:15.1 was seven and a half minutes behind the winner, Nathan O'Neill of Australia. To finish comfortably inside the top half of the field is a pretty impressive result for Firby, especially when you consider that he was racing on a borrowed bike after his own cycle was run over and destroyed by a juggernaut when it fell off his vehicle as he was transporting it to a training session. Shooting
 | | David Turner in action in the 10m Air Rifle |
Jersey's two fullbore shooters are well down the list after Qualification Stage 2. David Le Quesne is 24th and Richard Benest is 26th. The third stage is on Thursday. David Turner failed to qualify by 6pts for the 10m Air Rifle finals after coming 17th in the qualifiers. His start had been a little shaky but after the third round he "felt comfortable right to the end".
 | | New Zealand celebrate their win (c) Getty Images |
Turner was just 2 points off his personal best and was disappointed not to have improved it; "I was not far off, but unfortunately not" he explained. Hockey Becky Herbert was in action again for England's women hockey team, as they lost to the group winners New Zealand 4-0. That's the first goals England have conceded in the tournament, but they are already guaranteed a semi-final place. And Becky earned a green card, to go with her yellow earlier in the week. MONDAY 20 MARCH (DAY FIVE) Athletics
 | | Simon Phelan (c) Getty Images |
Simon Phelan's high jump of 2.05m, just short of his personal best, was not good enough to earn him a place in the final. Bowls Jersey's best chance of a medal so far at the Commonwealth Games fizzled out on the lawn bowls greens in Melbourne.
 | | Jersey keep an eye on their position |
The Ladies triples of Chrissie Grimes, Gina Le Long and Gean O'Neil lost their bronze medal play-off to England in straight sets. The Jersey ladies went 11-nil down in the first set after just five ends and never recovered, losing 11-3, 9-4 to Sue Harriot, Jean Baker and Amy Monkhouse. But a 4th place final position still represents the best ever finish by a Jersey bowls team. After winning her first group match in the singles at the weekend, Karina Bisson has been beaten 9-5, 11-4 by Welsh legend Betty Morgan. Realistically, Karina will have to beat both Australia and Norfolk Island in her last two group games to be sure of qualifying for the quarter-finals. While they would much rather have been playing-off for a medal place, the mens triples of Alan Shaw, John Lowery and Lee Nixon have been playing off to decide 17th to 20th place in their competition. But the good news is that they've beaten both Nuie and Fiji to finish in 17th place overall. Hockey But there was very good news for Jersey hockey star Becky Herbert - she scored for England for the first time in their 10-nil demolition of Barbados, a result that guarantees England a semi-final place. Swimming In swimming, Alexis Militis was outside his personal best in the 50 metres freestyle heats. His time of 24.31 was just over half a second outside a qualifying time for the semi-finals. Daniel Halksworth was 12th fastest in the 200 metres Individual medley heats, missing out on a place in the final after recording a time of 2:11.05, some three seconds outside his best.
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