WHO needs Sir Chris Hoy when you’ve got David Daniell? The four-time Olympic champion might be absent from the Commonwealth Games but one of his young rivals was quick to take advantage.

Daniell claimed silver in the men’s keirin, taking advantage of late disqualification to world silver medallist Azizulhasni Awang to upgrade his bronze.

But the 20-year old insisted he was shocked just to make it onto the podium.

“I definitely didn’t expect to get a medal,” he said.

“I came here for the experience and though you go into every race expecting to win, with just coming back from a knee operation and struggling for form, my confidence was low.

“Now I’m just so glad to get the bronze and to then get promoted to the silver – I’m over the moon, absolutely ecstatic.”

Daniell was pumped after crossing the line in third but needed to be scrapped off the ceiling of the Indira Ghandi Velodrome after learning he was edging up the podium.

Awang had powered through a tight gap to take the race in the home straight but officials announced after the race that Anwang was being disqualified for “dangerous sprinting”, handing the gold to Malaysian team-mate Josiah Ng.

“After I saw the replay I though ‘that’s tight, something should be done’, and then something was. Awang was disqualified for basically squeezing through a gap in the sprinters’ lane,” added Daniell.

Daniell had looked impressive during qualifying and got his tactics spot on – vital in a discipline where courage and raw speed must be paired with a cool head.

“I took it out, played to my strengths, I thought ‘it’s a final, give 100 per cent and see what happens’ and I’m so glad I held on for the medal,” he added.

“After I won from the front in the opening race I felt comfortable, I didn’t fatigue and that gave me huge confidence for the next races.

“Second race I messed up a little in tactics but in the final I put everything right again.

“I thought at one stage I was on for gold, I was coming down the back straight trying to keep my form and feeling my legs slowing down and I was saying to myself ‘keep going, keep going’, sadly I just missed out but now I’m just really, really happy.”

Daniell later returned to the track in his bid for a second medal – despite admitting his early endeavours had left him almost spent.

He lost his first round encounter in the men’s sprint but progressed to the quarterfinals after beating Awang and New Zealand’s John Mitchell in the repechage.

At the pool, Jemma Lowe admitted she was motivated by the fear of failure after storming into today’s 100m butterfly at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The 20-year-old from Hartlepool was highly fancied to progress but had already seen world leading team-mate Lizzie Simmonds left redfaced and Gemma Spofforth survive by the skin of her teeth after misjudging the 100m backstroke heats.

Lowe looked to be heading for a similar fate after sitting outside of the top four heading into the final 50m only to power home and take her heat in 58.44seconds.

And after booking her place in the medal showdown, Lowe insisted the exploits of Spofforth and Simmonds had proved the perfect warning.

“What happened to Lizzie and Gemma was in the back of my mind. It also made me nervous this morning so I just went for it and got a 58 second,”

said Lowe.

“I was so nervous tonight I had pins and needles and I could feel them when I was stood on the blocks.

“I am really happy with that and being in the final and it is going to be a really tough race but hopefully I will be able to get in the top three.”

Meanwhile, Jo Jackson teamed up with Rebecca Adlington, Emma Saunders and Sasha Matthews, clocking 7:58.61, more than two seconds faster than the time which got the women 4x200m freestyle silver in Melbourne four years ago, to claim Delhi bronze.

On the track Vicki Barr admitted she will have to improve if she is to make an impact.

The 28-year-old vowed to ditch her tag as a relay specialist in Delhi after she was selected to run the individual 400m at a major championship for the first time in her career.

But things didn’t go exactly to plan in the heats as Barr struggled.

She said: “I feel like I ran my race well but the last part was so difficult. It’s fine though, I’m in the semi-finals, and I’ll just improve on that.”

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