PAT McCormack came into 2018 knowing that he needed a big year ‘to get his name on the map’.

Well, the Washington welterweight has certainly planted his flag on the Gold Coast for all to see after claiming Commonwealth gold.

The 22-year-old had far too much class for his Northern Irish opponent Aidan Walsh in the final, claiming a decisive and unanimous win in the -69kg category.

And the newly-crowned Commonwealth champion admitted afterwards that Anthony Joshua – who trains and lives with the GB boxing squad for parts of the year – had inspired him to reach new heights.

“Anthony has made a great contribution, he is in the gym all the time and he started on the squad that we are now on, coming to these tournaments,” he said.

“So if he started from there to how good he is now – it just shows that anyone can do it.

“When he is in the gym – the heavyweight champion of the world – doing the same training as us.

“I want the riches, the fame and the glory like him. I might not be as big as him – the heavyweight champion of the world – but if I get half of that or quarter I will be happy.”

Across the way at Oxenford Studios the tension was just as palpable at the table tennis where Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford threatened to throw away gold in their men’s doubles final.

Leading 9-5 in the fifth set against Indian duo Sharath Achanta and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, the pair allowed their opponents back to within a point before eventually sealing victory 11-5, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 – much to Drinkhall’s delight.

He said: “It’s a fantastic achievement. From a very young age you watch big events like this. We were planning on coming here and winning a lot of medals and to get the gold around our neck is great.”

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