Local trio Hinch, Breach and Lally going for gold at Commonwealth Games

Horsham discus star Jade Lally will be one of those competing on the world stage tomorrow afternoon (Thursday).

Four years ago she won the bronze medal at the last games in Glasgow. But despite being well prepared for this championship, she is not putting herself under any pressure to come back with a medal.

This is because she has still not overcome the back problem which hampered her chances of qualifying for the World Championship final in London last year.

Speaking exclusively to the West Sussex County Times, she said: “I am still having trouble with my back so my expectations are low.

“If my back is good I can be among the medals but if it is bad I could be way down the list, so I will just have to go out there and see how I get on.”

The BBC is providing extensive coverage of the championships and Lally’s event is scheduled to start at 12.40pm on Thursday.

Former Pulborough rugby player Jess Breach is also preparing for her bow on the Gold Coast.

She is part of the England team trying to win the first women’s rugby sevens tournament ever played at the Commonwealths, starting on Friday.

They play Fiji and Australia on Friday (at 8.15am and 11.17am) with Wales on Saturday (9.59am) and the top two from each group go into the semis for medal games.

While West Chiltington-based Maddie Hinch is through to the semi-finals of the women’s hockey with her England team-mates.

The goalkeeper kept a clean sheet in their final group game - a 3-0 win over Malaysia to book their spot in the last four match tomorrow (Thursday) at 10am.

They managed three wins and one defeat in Pool A to top their group and set up a clash against New Zealand as Hinch bids to add to her Commonwealth silver medal from Glasgow and Olympic gold from Rio.

Full interviews and stories in Thursday’s West Sussex County Times, plus keep an eye on our website for the latest our trio’s progress.