Commonwealth Games: Joshua Stacey and Rosie Eccles win golds for Wales

Credit: PA

Para-table tennis player, Joshua Stacey, and boxer, Rosie Eccles, have won Commonwealth Games golds for team Wales.

The two gold wins came within an hour of each at the NEC on day 10 of the games in Birmingham.

Stacey has won Wales’ sixth gold of the Commonwealth Games so far, after defeating Lin Ma in the final of the men’s classes 8-10 singles, becoming Wales’ first Commonwealth Games Para-table tennis singles champion.

Meanwhile, four years of bad luck melted away for Rosie Eccles at the NEC in Birmingham. The Pontypool 26-year-old served up an emphatic second-round stoppage of Australia’s Kaye Scott to claim Commonwealth Games gold in the women’s light-middleweight division.

Victory was all the more impressive for Eccles, who is small for a light-middleweight.

Eccles had endured a controversial split-decision defeat to England’s Sandy Ryan in the Gold Coast final four years ago, subsequently missing out on a place at the Tokyo Olympics. After coming down with a mystery virus, she was denied a second chance by the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m always a very optimistic person, but even I started thinking I was suffering a bit of a boxing curse,” said Eccles. “I was starting to think it just wasn’t going to happen.

“Things kept coming up out of the blue – I got to the first qualifier and got attacked by a virus, then I was denied the chance to go to Tokyo. To come through all of this and win gold is just amazing.”

Eccles forced Scott, a former world medallist, to take a standing count in the opening round and piled on the pressure in the second, dealing out two more counts that convinced the referee to step in and stop the contest.

“I think I can take my silver medal out of its box now,” added Eccles. “I’ve kept it there for four years, even when I visit school, but now I can say I will get it out because it’s a part of my story, and I can look on it with pride.”

Eccles has her sights set on the 2024 Paris olympics, saying: “Paris is definitely the target now and I will be more powerful at the lighter weight,” added Eccles. “I’m always quite humble, but I think my time has come. You haven’t seen the best of me yet.”