Matty Lee and Katherine Torrance add two more gold medals to the Team GB cause on the final day of diving in Baku. Gymnasts Ryan Bartlett and Hannah Baughn win double bronze. London 2012 Olympian Kat Driscoll wins silver on the trampoline, while there is progress in the ring for welterweight Josh Kelly. Here’s our round-up of day nine in Baku.
Katherine Torrance and Matty Lee both produced fine displays to seal two further gold medals on the final day of diving at Baku 2015.
Torrance held her nerve to win the women’s 3m springboard before Lee followed suit in men’s platform, taking the British diving medal haul to six, including four golds.
Torrance said: “It means everything to win gold. It is a step forwards in the right direction, because if you can do it here you can do it wherever. It gives me a lot of confidence.
“It is great at the moment. We’ve had James (Heatly) and Lois (Toulson) diving amazingly already, so to be another person added to that is good.”
Matthew Dixon finished just outside the medals in the platform final, coming fourth, while Lydia Rosenthall placed eighth in the women’s 3m springboard.
There was more medal success for the Team GB mixed acrobatic gymnastic pair today as Hannah Baughn and Ryan Bartlett added to their all-around bronze with two more in the dynamic and then balance finals.
The British duo ended behind Russian pair Marina Chernova and Pataraya as well as Yana Vastavel and Solano Cassamajor, who took gold and silver respectively in all three disciplines.
Baughn said: “We were hoping we would get one medal, but it all depends on the routines you do. We pulled out five solid routines so we’re really happy.”
“It’s amazing. I just can’t wait to go home and show everyone my medals. All the support we’ve had has been amazing.”
Team GB women’s acrobatic group also concluded their European Games today, finishing sixth in both the balance and dynamic finals.
Fresh from claiming a silver medal at the inaugural European Games, Kat Driscoll says there is even more to come from her in the lead up to Rio.
The London 2012 Olympian incurred no penalties on her way to scoring 53.910 in the individual trampoline, finishing behind only Russian champion Yana Pavlova on the podium.
The 29-year-old says she ranks her Baku experience high among her list of achievements, but is not about to rest on her laurels.
“Winning a medal for Great Britain is always a privilege but doing it as part of Team GB makes it just that little bit more special,” said Driscoll.
“I’m pleased to have improved, but I know there’s more in there so I’m eager to get back home and start working on those areas so I’m able to produce even better performances than that.”
Driscoll was later denied a second medal, finishing fifth alongside Laura Gallagher in the synchronised final. The pair amassed 43.200 points and Gallagher was proud of their performance.
Welterweight Josh Kelly marched into the quarter-finals with an assured performance against Mahamed Nurudzinau but is under no illusion about the effort it will take to win a medal in Baku.
The 21-year-old was awarded a bye in the round of 32, so had to be patient before stepping into the ring.
But Kelly showed no signs of sluggishness in his points victory against his 34-year-old opponent, a former European champion.
Up next, Kelly is set to fight Ireland’s Adam Nolan in the last-eight and knows the competition is set to get tough.
“The next fight is going to be a good one,” said Kelly.
“He’s an experienced lad and there are going to be tough fights all the way through, but to get a medal I have to get past the next one.
The medal charges from middleweight Antony Fowler and light-welterweight Sam Maxwell, however, are over, after they suffered respective defeats to Salvatore Cavallaro of Italy and Sweden’s Clarence Goyeram.
Mike Gilligan and Jeremy Bird both believe they will be better for their Baku experience, despite missing out on the chance to shoot for men’s skeet medals.
Resuming in 16th and 30th place respectively after day one of qualifying, both Gilligan and Bird improved to climb the rankings, but were unable to squeeze into the top six.
Bird ended the day in 27th with 111, while two-time British champion Gilligan finishing on 120 – two points off a semi-final spot – placing 13th overall and was satisfied with his efforts.
“The whole experience has been really unique,” he said.
“We don't often get to compete in multi-sport events like this. There is the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics and now this, so it’s a great experience. You can only take positives from it.
Nicky Hunt was left rueing a costly arrow in the final stages of her match with Russia’s Natalia Erdynieva, eventually going down 6-4.
Hunt said: “It was 4-4 so went to winner takes all and I just started off with a bad shot. I was really pleased with the rest of the match apart from that one shot – but never mind.
"It’s has been a fantastic experience and this and the Olympics is the only time we get to go I that arena and these matches. You can’t get that experience anywhere else so it has been an amazing experience to shoot under that pressure.”