• Commonwealth Games - Day Five

Tancock and Adlington get England back on track

Liam Tancock won England's first gold medal of the day © Getty Images

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• News: Adlington going for four golds in London
  
• News: Hazel crowns England's gold rush
  
• News: Day 4: Adlington triumphs as Lewis-Francis claims silver
  
• Profile: Rebecca Adlington | Liam Tancock

Day Five Gallery

Liam Tancock stormed to victory in the swimming pool to spark a gold rush for British athletes on Day Five of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Up until Tancock's victory, silver was the colour of the day for the Home Nations, but Tancock's second gold of the Games kick-started an English charge, as Andy Turner led home an English one-two-three in the 110m hurdles and Rebecca Adlington won her second gold medal of the Games in the 400m freestyle.

Defending champion Tancock started well in the 100m backstroke but grabbed a substantial lead on the turn, and pulled away to add another medal to his 50m title. And just moments later, Adlington dominated a strong field to seal her second gold medal, with Wales' Jazmin Carlin winning bronze.

"It's absolutely amazing. I thought I may as well just go for it," Adlington told BBC Sport. "I was really struggling this morning after the 800m, but I wanted this swim really, really badly. I got a taste for it last night."

A third English swimmer in short succession clinched a double gold when James Goddard secured victory in the 200m individual medley. Goddard led home Joe Roebuck for an English one-two to become the first English champion of the event to add to his 200m backstroke title.

But before Tancock became the first athlete at the top of the podium on Friday, Lizzie Simmonds came closest to glory in the 200m backstroke, only to be pipped in the final five metres by Meagen Nay. Simmonds got off to a flying start and led for the whole race, but Nay touched home in a Games record time of 2:07.56. Australia's Emily Seebohm took bronze, while England's Gemma Spofforth and Stephanie Proud finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Fran Halsall's struggle against illness continued as she was beaten by 15-year-old Yolane Kukla in the 50m freestyle. Halsall, who snatched a superb 50m butterfly on Tuesday, was struck down by a stomach bug and nearly collapsed after her 100m freestyle bronze on Thursday.

"I'm really disappointed. I haven't got any energy really," said Halsall. "But I've got three medals so I can't be too disappointed, but it's not the order I wanted them in. I'm still 20 though, I could do another Games if I want."

Antony James was the third English swimmer to claim silver on Friday in the 100m butterfly. The event was won by Australia's Geoff Huegill, who won the title for the third time in his career. Huegill, who retired after the 2004 Athens Olympics, lost more than seven stone to return to international competition and win gold 12 years after winning the first. James touched home in 52.50 - exactly the same time as Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini to share the silver medal.

In the women's 100m breaststroke, Kate Haywood won bronze behind a dominant Liesel Jones, the Australian winning her ninth Commonwealth gold in a time of 1:05.84, while in the women's 50m backstroke, Spofforth took silver with Wales' Georgia Davis sharing the bronze medal. Meanwhile in the 4x100m freestyle relay, England claimed silver behind Australia after Canada were disqualified.

On the athletics track, European champion Andy Turner powered home to lead an English clean-sweep in the men's sprint hurdles. After seeing Katherine Endacott on the podium for a surprise bronze medal, Turner dominated the field, with Will Sharman taking silver, and Lawrence Clarke, who injured himself in the warm-ups, bronze.

A gutsy 1500m in the final event of the men's decathlon earned England's Martin Brockman a hard-earned bronze medal, whil Steph Twell ran a brave race in the women's 1500m to win bronze for Scotland, but England's Hannah England could only manage fourth.

Wendy Houvenaghel was forced to settle for silver in the individual pursuit © Getty Images

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Earlier in the day it was also silver for Wendy Houvenaghel, who missed out on the chance to win a first cycling title for Northern Ireland in the 3000m individual pursuit. Houvenaghel, the Olympic silver medallist in Beijing, was forced to settle for second best once again after being beaten by New Zealand's Alison Shanks. With England's Olympic champion Rebecca Romero absent, Houvenaghel was one of the favourites to claim the gold, but after a strong start was well beaten by Shanks, who crossed the line in a time of 3:30.875.

"I set off with a strategy in mind," Houvenaghel told BBC Sport. "I was confident going into the final and I rode the race as I'd normally ride it, but when I realised I was down I had nothing left to get it back. I did as best I could and the outcome took care of itself. It's a silver, I accept it and move on."

Nathan Robertson helped steer England to team bronze in the badminton. After England lost to hosts India in the semi-finals to miss out on a place in the final for the first time, Robertson and partner Jenny Wallwork put England on their way to victory over Singapore. Rajiv Ouseph's 21-15 21-17 singles win over Ze Liang Derek Wong moved England closer to victory, and Robertson and Anthony Clark sealed a 3-1 win after Elizabeth Cann was beaten by Aiying Xing.

English tennis players Ross Hutchins and Ken Skupski are guaranteed a silver medal after upsetting Indian second seeds Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopann in the men's tennis doubles semi-final. In the mixed doubles semi-finals, Scotland guaranteed themselves at least a silver after a famous win over England, who have a fight on their hands now for bronze.

England's women's hockey team are facing a must-win match in their final Group B clash against Malaysia after suffering their first defeat of the Games against New Zealand. Despite taking the lead through Ashleigh Ball's first international goal, Katie Glynn scored a hat-trick to seal a 4-1 victory and New Zealand's place in the semi-finals. "New Zealand were better than us everywhere and they deserved their win," said head coach Danny Kerry.

Luke Folwell has emerged as one of the stars of Delhi, claiming two more gymnastics medals to add to his all-round gold he won on Wednesday. Folwell won gold on the vault and a silver in the parallel bars. In the women's event, England's Imogen Cairns won the floor gold to add to her vault victory.

Meanwhile in the squash, Peter Barker sealed a clean sweep of medals for England after he beat Mohamad Azlan Iskandar 3-0 to win the bronze medal. Nick Matthew beat compatriot James Willstrop in the final to determine gold and silver. In the women's final, Jenny Duncalf was forced to settle for silver after losing the final 3-0 to Malaysia's Nicol David.

England's women lost a nail-biting archery recurve team final by a single point on Friday morning after leading India all the way. Having earlier defeating Canada in their semi-final 232-229, England were in front after every round of three arrows until India posted 207.

Amy Oliver and Alison Williamson only needed to score 16 with their last attempts to secure gold, but Oliver landed a disappointing six to leave Williamson with the task of a miraculous ten to win or a nine to draw level, but she could only manage an eight as the hosts won 207-206. Williamson said the noisy crowd had proved a factor on the result, but that she wasn't blaming the conditions on the result.

"Obviously, this is not a typical archery crowd but we're not making any excuses because we shoot as a team," she said. "I liken it to golf, though. You don't get people clapping and shouting when someone is teeing off. But, as I say, it's not an excuse. We respect the Indian team and they were worthy winners."

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