England’s Leon Baptiste held off Christian Malcolm to claim Commonwealth gold in the 200 metres while Dai Greene clinched the 400m hurdles crown for Wales.
Baptiste emerged from the bend in the lead but Malcolm, who was hoping to complete a golden double for Wales on Sunday, started to close in the final 50m.
But the 25-year-old Englishman, who was the fastest qualifier into the final, did not tighten up and crossed the line to win in 20.45seconds.
Lansford Spence of Jamaica finished the fastest in the outside lane and managed to claim silver on the line, with European silver medallist Malcolm having to settle for bronze.
“My coach (Michael Khmel) and I had a plan about six to eight weeks ago. We decided to get ourselves in the best shape possible,” Baptiste said.
“We came out with a plan and things paid off. When you’re injured for a long time you get all these doubts.
“Steadily I’ve improved every year since 2005 – that’s the only reason I’ve carried on. I feel really proud. I can’t wait to get home and see my family and enjoy the moment.”
Golden Greene
Earlier in the evening at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Greene claimed Wales’ first gold medal at the Games as he edged out South African Louis Van Zyl in a dramatic final.
Van Zyl threatened to erase Greene’s lead as the pair cleared the final hurdle but the European champion found a second wind and took the victory in 48.52s.
“I knew he was really close to me but I always felt I had the extra metre to go to,” Greene said.
“I felt really strong. My training has been going really well so I knew I had it. I was really pleased to come away with it because it was a really close call.”
He added: “I put pressure early on and consolidated my position from 150, 250. He kicked on, I kicked on and I always felt I had the extra gears to go to.
“I was just very confident I suppose after all the races I have done this year. If I’d have been in this situation a few months ago I maybe would have crumbled but after everything I have done this year I thought I was unbeatable today. It was brilliant, I enjoyed every second of it.”
Wales clinched two spots on the podium as Rhys Williams, a training partner of Greene, grabbed the bronze medal in 48.96s.
More medals
In the final of the women’s 400m hurdles, Eilidh Child of Scotland added to the Home Nations’ medal tally with a silver as she finished second behind Nigerian Muizat Odumosu.
England claimed bronze in the men’s discus as Carl Myerscough’s best throw of 60.64m was good enough for third behind Australia’s Benn Harradine and Vikas Shive Gowda of India.
Elsewhere, there was disappointment for the host nation in the women’s long jump as India’s Prajusha Maliakkal lost out to Canadian Alice Falaiye in the last jump of the competition.
Kenya recorded a clean sweep of the medals in the men’s 800m as Boaz Lalang led home Richard Kiplagat and Abraham Kiplagat.
The final of the women’s 200m was postponed until Monday due to an appeal against the disqualification of Cypriot Eleni Artymata.
