TENNIS player Ewen Lumsden won silver in the boy’s singles on the final day of the Youth Commonwealth Games in Samoa to take Scotland’s final medal tally to 21; three gold, 10 silver and eight bronze.
Sixth-seeded Lumsden from Lenzie was in good form, having knocked out the No.3 seed in the semi-final but the 15-year-old was up against it in the gold-medal match where he faced the top seed, Sasi Kumar Mukund from India. At three years Lumsden’s senior, the Indian player was too strong and ran away with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
This was Lumsden’s second silver medal of the Games, having already reached the final of the mixed doubles with Louie McLelland the previous day. Seventeen-year-old McLelland from Stirling was particularly happy with how the new partnership had performed.
“It’s been a really good week, she said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever played with Ewen and I think we played well together. It’s definitely one of the best moments of my career and whatever I do next I’ll feel more confident in myself. I’m so proud to be Scottish and so happy to represent my country. It’s a great feeling to get a medal as well.”
Lumsden may not have managed to add to Team Scotland’s gold medal count but he remained upbeat about how his Games had panned out, particularly after seeing his team-mates rack up so many medals earlier in the week.
“When I came here I probably didn’t think I would make it to the final,” he said. “It feels good to come away with two silver medals. I’m happy to have some medals of my own after seeing others coming back with theirs – overall I’m happy with how I’ve played and it’s been a good experience.”
Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Paul Bush was delighted with how the 28-strong team had performed over the five days of competition. “Huge congratulations to our Youth Games team – they have done the nation proud,” he said. “They have been truly inspired by the success of Team Scotland at Glasgow 2014 last year and have shown just how much it means to represent their country on the international stage. Whilst the Youth Games is primarily about enabling young athletes to get a positive international multi-sport experience, it is also fantastic to see so many of them win medals.
"The popularity and standard of competition at these Games has grown massively over the last few years and they are proving to be the ideal launch pad for athletes to move on to senior international success. We now look forward to seeing many of these names move on to make their mark in Gold Coast 2018 and Durban 2022.”
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