A slow day for England was brought to a crowning conclusion by the women’s pairs lawn bowls team who drew on a lifetime’s friendship bring home gold.

There were silvers and bronzes too as England added seven medals to the team’s total on day eight to sit third in the table, just three golds adrift of the hosts.

Headlines:

Bowling for glory: Ellen Falkner and Amy Monkhouse won the pairs final against Malaysia after seeing off Australia in the semi. The men were at it too, Stuart Airey and Meryvn King taking silver in the tightest of tight finishes.

Sprinter’s return: Abi Oyepitan marked her return to the big stage by storming to silver in the re-arranged women’s 200m, while Steve Lewis and Max Eaves vaulted to the podium.

Shooting stars: Michelle Smith and Sharon Lee got England on the board early this morning with a rifle silver, while Richard Brickell and Clive Bramley took the sport’s Delhi tally to 14 with a bronze.

England medals today:       Gold: 1; Silver: 4; Bronze: 2

England medal tally:           Gold: 27; Silver: 49; Bronze: 35.

Sport by sport round-up: 

Athletics: A come-back silver for sprinter Oyepitan and pole vault medals for Lewis and Eaves crowned a thunderous night in the stadium.

Badminton: Victories for Robertson and Wallwork in the mixed, Robertson and Clark in the men’s, and White and Wallwork in the women’s doubles, while Ouseph and Cann’s singles hopes remain alive. 

Boxing: High fives all round as England have five shots at gold in the boxing finals after all semis ended in victory.

Diving: Jack Laugher loved his Games experience despite finishing 11th in the men’s 3m springboard. Nick Robinson-Baker was fifth, while Monique Gladding and Tonia Couch were sixth and eighth in the women’s 10m platform.

Hockey: Tearful and frustrated, England women battered at the Aussies’ door for much of their seering semi-final but the Hockeyroos would not be moved and their one goal separated the sides.

Lawn Bowls: Gold and silver were wonderful rewards after long campaigns by England’s pairs teams, though the men were gutted to lose at the death. 

Rugby 7s: England will face Samoa in the quarter-finals after beating Australia 21-19 today after two impressive earlier wins in the group games.

Shooting: England’s sharp shooters lost on countback but won medals - silver for Smith and Lee in the 50m rifle prone pairs and bronze for Brickell and Bramley in the skeet pairs.

Squash: Confidence boosting wins for Duncalf and Willstrop, Duncalf and Massaro, and Matthew and Grant; quarter-finals to come in the mixed and semis for the rest.

Table Tennis: A Monday of mixed fortunes for England’s table tennis hopefuls but hopes are alive in the men’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles.

Weightlifting: Joe Muskett did not have quite enough power to make the weightlifting podium, finishing fifth in the 105+kg category.