Roller coaster night for Britain’s male gymnasts ends with a world team silver medal while cyclist Owain Doull and rower Chris Bartley look ahead to their busy weekend of sport. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
Dan Purvis struggled to hide his emotions as Great Britain’s male gymnasts secured team silver at the World Gymnastics Championships.
Twenty-four hours after their female counterparts secured a historic bronze, Britain’s men ensured it was another podium finish in Glasgow.
The team of Purvis, Max Whitlock, Brinn Bevan, Nile Wilson, Louis Smith and Kristian Thomas had looked like battling for bronze at one point.
But a superb finish on floor secured silver while mistakes from Japan on the high bar almost let them in for gold.
“It was an unbelievable finish,” said Purvis. “Me and Kristian thought that we were fighting for bronze to be honest and weren’t really looking at the scores, then all of a sudden we were in second and pushing for gold.
“That’s incredible, especially in this sport. A few years ago we were nowhere near China or Japan and to come here and get the silver medal is unbelievable.” Read more here.
Owain Doull intends to set the record straight in Cali this weekend when he returns to Colombia for the Track Cycling World Cup.
Doull was a part of the Great Britain’s men’s team pursuit squad that finished eighth – their lowest finish in the event for the Great Britain Cycling Team this century – at the World Track Cycling Championships in Cali last year.
And while the memories still linger, the 22-year-old is determined to come away with better results this time around.
“It’ll be nice to go in there, doing a world cup without the pressure of the world championships. I think coming into it, we’re all pretty confident and in good form,” he told British Cycling.
“Hopefully, it’ll be a slightly more successful trip than last time.
“It’s another important one. Unlike the Europeans, it gives us the chance to test ourselves against the Aussies and the Kiwis who are probably the bigger rivals when it comes to the worlds and the Olympics.”
London 2012 silver medallist Chris Bartley insists he is under no illusions as to just how important this season is as he gears up for this weekend's GB Rowing Team assessment.
Bartley, who helped Team GB finish as runners-up in the lightweight men's four at the London Games, will be one of a host of World and Olympic medallists who will race against the clock on rowing machines on Saturday before undertaking a gruelling 5km on-water time trial on Sunday.
Whilst GB's top rowers are normally exempt from the October assessment, this season is different as the coaches and performance director keep an eye on progress of those seeking to snatch a squad place before Rio 2016.
"This is the first step in one of the most important seasons of our rowing careers," said Bartley.
"This season is shorter than the usual season. So it's important that we get it off on the right foot and show ourselves well.”
Alijaz Bedene’s Valencia Open campaign ended at the second round stage after the British number two was knocked out by Vasek Pospisil in straight sets.
The 26-year-old had been French eighth seed Jeremy Chardy 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the first round.
But the world number 48 was unable to keep that winning run up, losing 6-3. 6-4.
Sportsbeat 2015