Live: Commonwealth Games action on day eight

After a quiet day for New Zealand on day seven with a solitary bronze, things should heat up on Friday night and into Saturday (NZT) at the Commonwealth Games.

Shot put colossus Tom Walsh and his orb-throwing compatriot Jacko Gill form the focal point of New Zealand’s day eight, with Walsh a dominant favourite for gold when the final gets under way just after 6am (NZT).

First, the bowlers kick things off with the Val Smith-led women’s triple looking to book their place in the gold medal match in a semifinal against Malaysia.

The Kiwi women’s pair and men’s four also face knockout action.

Wrestlers Tayla Ford, Matthew Oxenham and Brahm Richards – the latter having overcome pre-Games drama – grapple for medals while divers Maggie Squire Arno Lee, and Luke Sipkes also splash for a podium.

At 5am the defending champion women’s Black Sticks take on England in a semifinal and the right to chase back to back golds, as mixed doubles squash gold medal favourites Joelle King and Paul Coll eye the quarterfinals against Scotland.

Kiwis in action on day eight of the Commonwealth Games on Friday (NZ times, * denotes if qualified):

Bowls-

7.30pm: Women’s triples semifinal (Val Smith, Tayla Bruce, Nicole Toomey) v Malaysia, women’s pairs quarterfinal (Katelyn Inch, Selina Goddard) v Wales

11pm: Men’s fours quarterfinal (Ali Forsyth, Mike Galloway, Andrew Kelly, Tony Grantham) v Wales, women’s pairs semifinal*

Diving-

9.05pm: Women’s 1m springboard preliminary (Maggie Squire)

Wrestling-

9.30pm: Preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals and repechage – women’s freestyle U68kg (Tayla Ford), men’s freestyle U65kg (Brahm Richards), men’s freestyle U86kg (Matthew Oxenham)

Beach volleyball-

10pm: Men’s quarterfinal (Sam O’Dea, Brad Fuller) v Rwanda

Squash-

11.45pm: Men’s doubles round of 16 (Lwamba Chileshe, Temwa Chileshe) v Malaysia

(Saturday, August 6-)

Gymnastics, rhythmic-

12.30am: Individual all-round final* (Havana Hopman, Paris Chin)

Badminton-

1.20am: Mixed doubles round of 16 (Oliver Leydon-Davis, Anona Pak) v Australia

Bowls-

3.30am: Women’s triples medal matches (Val Smith, Tayla Bruce, Nicole Toomey), men’s fours semifinals* (Ali Forsyth, Mike Galloway, Andrew Kelly, Tony Grantham)

Wrestling-

4am: Medal contests – women’s freestyle U68kg* (Tayla Ford), men’s freestyle U65kg* (Brahm Richards), men’s freestyle U86kg* (Matthew Oxenham)

Hockey-

5am: Women’s semifinal v England

Diving-

5.05am: Women’s 1m springboard final* (Maggie Squire)

6.23am: Men’s synchronised 10m platform final* (Arno Lee, Luke Sipkes)

Squash-

5am: Women’s doubles quarterfinal (Joelle King, Amanda Landers-Murphy) v England

7.15am: Mixed doubles quarterfinal (Paul Coll, Joelle King) v Scotland

Athletics-

6.06am: Men’s shot put final (Jacko Gill, Tom Walsh)

Beach volleyball-

7am: Women’s quarterfinal (Alice Zeimann, Shaunna Polley) v England