Zharnel Hughes eased into the semi-finals of the men’s 200m on a successful morning of athletics for Team England.

Hughes clocked 20.45s to win his heat and qualify sixth-fastest in the field ahead as he looks to upgrade his silver medal from Birmingham 2022.

“It was easy,” he said. “A nice little blowout, get the legs going. I wasn’t trying to run too fast.”

There was also early morning success for team captain Scott Lincoln in the shot put.

He needed just one attempt to qualify automatically, pushing out to 20.09m.

“I did exactly the job I came here to do,” he said.

“It was such an honour to be voted [team captain] by the other athletes. I have been looking out for some of the guys sitting on their own and even checking in on guys who didn’t get the performances they wanted so far.”

Zac Shaw also earned automatic qualification to the men’s T12 100m final, winning his heat in 10.91s to qualify fastest.

The 30-year-old won silver in Birmingham 2022 and like Hughes is eyeing an upgrade in Glasgow.

The men’s mile saw Tom Keen qualify for Saturday’s final thanks to a fourth-place finish in his heat.

He ran 3:59.34 to come through the slower of the two heats, while team-mate Archie Davis was not able to progress despite running 3:57.98 in the other heat.

“The plan was to just get out hard and make sure I was never outside the top five,” said Keen.

“That gave me a one-position buffer. There was a lot of clipping and tripping and a big fall, but thankfully that was behind me. I am happy with how it went.”

Emily Newnham and Lina Nielsen both qualified automatically in the women’s 400m hurdles heats, with a pair of second place finishes.

Newnham came through in 56.08s while Nielsen followed in 55.66s to safely book their places in the final.

“It is really special for me,” said Nielsen. “The last time I came to the Commonwealth Games I couldn’t battle, I was sick, I had an MS [multiple sclerosis] flare up.

“These Games are especially special for me.

“It was raining, I saw the goosebumps on my legs – no amount of deep heat is going to help you here. I told myself you need to be brave.”

The women’s heptathlon continued with two more events, with Jade O’Dowda in a medal position ahead of the 800m.

O’Dowda produced a best effort of 6.26m in the long jump and followed that up with a season’s best throw of 43.85m in the javelin to leave herself second on 5353 points.

Ellen Barber posted a personal best of 6.20m in the long jump before throwing 42.77m in the javelin to sit fourth with 5119 points.

Niamh Emerson is seventh with 5057 points thanks to a season’s best jump of 5.96m and a throw of 39.91m.

James Reid/Sportsbeat 2026