Boxing competition at the 2014 Commonwealth Games enters its penultimate day with semi-final action, while the fastest man in the world Usain Bolt will make his first appearance on the track when the Jamaican men's 4 x 100 meter relay team begin their quest for gold in the first round on Friday.
Olympic Bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games defending champion Paddy Barnes will attempt to punch his ticket to the gold medal round when he takes on Fazil Kaggwa of Uganda.
Barnes led a strong boxing contingent for Northern Ireland, who has been an overwhelming force in the sport discipline throughout the competition. Barnes, who knocked out Hamadi Furahisha of Tanzania and Charles Keama of Papua New Guinea in the last two rounds, believed the success of the boxers should be an inspiration for other athletes from Northern Ireland.
"We are winning these medals because of self belief and our ability, but mostly it's the confidence that we have. Barnes said in an interview with Belfast Telegraph on Thursday. "We believe that we are the best and we are showing it.
"I think other sports in Northern Ireland could learn from us. You have other teams saying they are facing Australia and they are stronger, but that has to change some time and you have to have the self belief to make it change. The boxers have that self belief."
Meanwhile, Bolt will finally see action in the first round of the men's 4 x 100 meter relay. Arguably the brightest star in this edition of the Commonwealth Games spectacle, Bolt drew the ire of some of the athletes and sports fans following his alleged derogatory comments about the Games.
According to the Times, Bolts said he had not been having fun in Glasgow and even called the Games bull shit.
However, the world record holder in men's 100 meter and 200 meter immediately downplayed the report, calling the article a piece of non-sense.
"I'm waking up to this nonsense..journalist please don't create lies to make headlines," Bolt posted on his Twitter account.
Ricky Simms, who served as Bolt's manager, stressed that he doesn't know where the report came from. He added that the sprinter is having fun in Glasgow, contrary to the report from the Times.
"The atmosphere in and around the stadiums has been absolutely fantastic and I have absolutely no idea where these quotes have come from," Simms said in an interview.
Schedule, Results & Live Stream Information
Schedule and Results of Day 9 of the Commonwealth Games 2014 are available on the official site at Glasgow 2014, while live stream feed is posted on Youtube (Below).
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