Glasgow 2014: Kilmarnock lifters dominate trials platform

Kilmarnock Weightlifting Club underlined their dominance in the Scottish scene as four of their lifters made the qualifying standard at the Commonwealth Games trials in Glasgow.

Georgi Black, now in the lighter 63kg class, set a new Scottish record with a clean and jerk lift of 99kg.

In the bodyweight category below, 21-year-old Sophie Smyth also made the Games target with a total of 146 kilos.

Peter Kirkbride far surpassed the Games standard and Craig Carfray matched it.

In addition, Chick Hamilton's club have Louise Mather in contention for Glasgow 2014, although she was unable to compete at Team Cavanagh/Barton's Weightlifting Club in Anniesland because of an injury concern.

Black, 24, lifted 75kg in the snatch discipline, which, when combined with her 99kg for the clean and jerk, gave her a total of 174kg, easing past the Games standard of 155kg.

Smyth's 146kg total comprised 62kg in the snatch and 84kg in the clean and jerk and matched the target exactly.

She told BBC Scotland: "I got the qualifier on my second clean and jerk. My coach made the decision to pull me out and let me celebrate.

"It's the best feeling to realise that I can enjoy the lead-up to the Games now I've met the criteria. It's such a big weight off my shoulders."

Seven of the 22 competitors were women.

Greenock's Jane Armour, another Kilmarnock member, lifted 144kg in the 63kg category. The PE teacher will have to rediscover her form following a back injury in time for the final Games qualifying event, the British Senior Weightlifting Championships at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on 10 May.

Jenny McIntyre snatched 64kg and clean and jerked 85kg for a 149kg total but was still 15kg short of the Games standard.

Elise Brown made a total of 146kg in the 75kg class and Team Cavanagh duo Amy Liu and Colette Will had off days, although it is only in the past week that Will has been able to train as she recovers from a wrist injury.

"Unfortunately, I didn't make the qualification today, but hopefully I can do the 138kg in the British Seniors in Coventry. I wasn't too far away, it just wasn't right on the day," Will told BBC Scotland.

In the men's competition, Delhi silver medallist Kirkbride came within a whisker of a new Scottish record of 191kg for the clean and jerk as he underlined his medal potential for the event to be held in Glasgow's Clyde Auditorium.

Competing in the 94kg bodyweight category, the Scotland team's figurehead eased to 144kg in the snatch and then, in the clean and jerk, lifted 180kg and 187kg with his first two efforts. He threatened his own Scottish record of 190kg with his third and final lift of 191kg but just failed to deliver.

Carfray broke the Scottish record in the 69kg class for the clean and jerk with a 144kg lift - twice his bodyweight plus six kilos. He must match that feat in Coventry to satisfy Commonwealth Games Scotland's demand that the qualifying totals are achieved on a minimum of two separate occasions.

Aberdeen Spartans' Lewis Thomson, an imposing figure on the platform in the 105+kg category, broke the Scottish Under-23 record twice in each discipline. He snatched 125kg and managed 158kg in the clean and jerk. However, even this feat leaves him 52kg short of the Games target total.

Dale Cree, also of Kilmarnock, was closest to making the standard from the rest of the male athletes. His 270kg total is 14kg short, while Team Cavanagh's Callum Downie, having shed some weight to compete in the 94kg class, is some 20kg shy of the target.

Weightlifting Scotland will supply Commonwealth Games Scotland with their nominees for the final Glasgow 2014 team after the British Championships.