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James Heatly pleased with performance despite missing out on medals

Scotland's James Philip Heatly in action.

Scotland’s James Heatly saved his best dive until last, but it was not quite enough for a medal in the men’s 3m springboard, finishing in fourth place as England swept the podium.

The 25-year-old, competing at his third Commonwealth Games, finished with a total of 460.40 to miss out on bronze by just 1.9 points while Ross Beattie came 11th with a score of 365.00.

Dan Goodfellow took the gold medal with a total of 484.45, ahead of Jordan Houlden (465.15) and Laugher (462.30), but Heatly was satisfied with his night’s work despite just missing out.

“I’m actually pretty happy with the performance,” said Heatly. “The scores all increased as the rounds went on and it’s been an extremely tough year, so I’m happy with the fightback.

“I’m just annoyed with the finishing position. Fourth is just a bit tough to swallow but there are more positives than negatives. I was a little shaky at the beginning, it’s always difficult with nerves.

“I definitely was a lot more like myself again in that competition.”

Beattie admitted he felt mixed emotions after the final, with a consistent performance undone by his fourth dive - a reverse 2.5 somersaults - which resulted in a final total of 365.00.

“I feel pretty good, a little deflated about reverse as it’s the one that has been going a little awry lately. I did a good one this morning, but the take-off was shaky tonight,” he said.

“I tried to work some magic in at the end, but it didn’t quite work out but the other five dives I was pretty happy with, and I did enjoy it, I just wanted a little bit more.”

This summer, Team Scotland, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, compromises of over 250 athletes, all vying for medal success.

There was also disappointment for Cameron Gammage earlier in the day as the 20-year-old just missed out on qualifying for the final of the 3m springboard on his Games debut.

Gammage finished the preliminaries in 13th with a total of 325.50, only 0.9 points behind the final qualifier in 12th, but took huge encouragement from his overall experience.

“It’s a little bit disappointing but at the end of the day I’ve got to compete at the Commonwealth Games which has been a dream of mine for a very long time,” he said.

“This home nation crowd has been unbelievable. The facilities are amazing and although it is disappointing there is a lot I can and will take away from it and move on.

“I’ve competed against those guys before, but I think doing it in an environment like this and the approach and the feel of it is very, very different, watching them on the big stage.”

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