Sri Lanka’s Andrew Matthew Abeysinghe clocked 54.40 seconds to finish fourth in men’s 100m freestyle qualifying round at the Commonwealth Games swimming competition continued in New Delhi today.
Competing in lane eight in the men’s 100m freestyle heat three this morning, Abeysinghe remained in the fourth position from the first 50m turn. Singapore’s Mohamed Kamal won the heat in 52.97 seconds, followed by Thomas Michael of Swaziland (53.35), Ian Daniel of Guernsey (53.83) and Lankan Abeysinghe. Fran Halsall romped to Englands first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games - and just minutes later Liam Tancock grabbed a second. Halsall stormed to 50m butterfly gold in a new British record time of 26.24 seconds, defeating Australian teen sensation Emily Seebohm in the process and remains on course for six gold medals.
"Its fantastic, I really didnt expect to win that one," said Halsall. "I just wanted to go out there and get a good time and she what happens - after it finished I thought that was a bit cheeky. "I like being the underdog though and I think there was a lot more pressure on some of the other girls and that played in my favour.
"I finished strongly and it just felt really great to get up on the top of the podium and see the England flag raised." Tancock meanwhile, the world 50m backstroke champion, added Commonwealth gold to his world title with a dominant performance, coming home in 24.62.