Commonwealth Games: England win landmark third team gymnastics gold

Fraser, the 2019 world champion on the parallel bars, battled through injury to help England to a landmark third successive title

England became the first team to win three successive Commonwealth team gymnastics golds as Birmingham's Joe Fraser helped them to a big victory.

And the hosts made light of the absence of the injured Max Whitlock to finish on 254.500, 13.300 ahead of Canada.

James Hall, Jake Jarman, Giarnni Regini-Moran and Courtney Tulloch also impressed as England dominated.

Between them, they ensured a clean sweep of the standings, with England on top in all six pieces of apparatus.

Their success was England's second gold of the Commonwealth Games after triathlete Alex Yee triumphed earlier on the opening day of action.

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British champion Fraser's hopes of competing in the all-around competition at the Commonwealths had been wrecked by an ankle injury two weeks before the Games.

However, he vowed to put his disappointment behind him to help England chase another title after success at Glasgow 2014 and on the Gold Coast in 2018.

The 23-year-old made good on his promise, entering the competition with a slick routine on the pommel.

He dismounted to a backing of raucous applause and the judges duly scored him 14.650, 0.300 ahead of Northern Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan, the defending Commonwealth champion on the apparatus.

Tulloch, defending champion on the rings from the Gold Coast, extended England's lead with a controlled, confident display that earned a score of 14.700, comfortably eclipsing the rest of the competition.

Regini-Moran top-scored in both the parallel bars and floor, with Jarman clear of the rest on the vault.

The final word was fittingly left to Fraser, though. He stuck a superb horizontal bar routine on England's final rotation, top-scoring with 14.500.

The England team bounced together in a joyful huddle, but their celebrations were outdone by a delighted Cyprus team, who took a surprise bronze.

Scotland and Wales finished fifth and sixth respectively.

The team final also acts as the qualifying event for individual disciplines, with the top eight on each apparatus progressing to the medal events later in the Games.

England's Jarman and Hall were the two highest-scoring gymnasts in all-around qualification, ahead of Cyprus' Marios Georgiou.

Scotland's Frank Baines, who retired in 2019 but returned to the sport to compete in a third Commonwealth Games, also progressed.

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