Ulmer-itis sweeps NZ camp on day from hell

Here are the New Zealand highlights from day six of the Commonwealth Games: we knocked Swaziland out of the women's bowls pairs; hammered the Vanuatu 12-year-old in the men's table tennis; and sent the Seychelles weightlifter packing.

Oh yeah, and Gordon McCauley won a bronze in the men's cycling time trial.

All around Melbourne, haka parties waited in vain, and Games boss Ronald Walker let the athletes know Prime Minister Helen Clark didn't even care.

"She obviously doesn't like sport," Mr Walker told a press conference.

"I'm disappointed that Helen Clark didn't see fit to travel three-and-a-half hours to get over here."

The PM yet again showed an impeccable knack for seeing trouble looming and ensuring her motorcade sped her elsewhere.

It shaped up as a bad day when Sarah Ulmer pulled out of the women's cycling time trial, just as New Zealanders were making their way to the course to see her win gold.

In a flash, Ulmer-itis infected the whole New Zealand team.

Every athlete will remember where they were on the day from hell, except boxer Greg Weenink, who had the misfortune to run into David Price, the Liverpool Lasher.

Weenink dropped to the canvas as fast as the weights Grant Cavit had tried to hoist in the arena next door to the boxing.

Weenink made it back up of the deck and fought on, only for the bout to be stopped by the referee.

Trap shooter Teresa Borrell won her way into a sudden death shoot-off for the bronze medal, missed with her first shot. Fifth.

Jan and Marina Khan held three shots on Australia in the first end of their semifinal tiebreaker. Only a miracle could rob them.

And so it came to pass that Australia produced a miracle shot, taking away a New Zealand bowl and the kitty as well.

The sisters will play for the bronze today. Knowing our luck they will come fourth.

Swimmer Helen Norfolk turned for home in the 400 metre individual medley just 0.01 seconds out of third place, knowing that as the best freestyler in the field the bronze was in her grasp. Fifth.

Backstroker Hannah McLean set a Commonwealth Games record in the opening leg of the 4 x 100m medley relay.

Annabelle Carey, Elizabeth Coster and Alison Fitch kept New Zealand in the first three until the shadow of the finish line. Fourth.

For a while the horror was manageable, as former world discus champion Beatrice Faumuina was due to throw for a near certain gold at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the evening.

Note the words NEAR CERTAIN.

Faumuina, 31, struggled to throw anywhere near her best, as she finished without a medal for the firsttime in four Commonwealth Games.

She had won gold in Manchester in 2002 and Kuala Lumpur in 1998, having debuted with silver in 1994 at Victoria, Canada. Her fifth throw of 59.12m was the best she could muster on the night.

She was heading for a bronze medal going into the last round.

Then Dani Samuels of Australia mounted a final throw of 59.44m. Fourth.

But Ulmer's long-term back injury resurfaced to ruin her chances of riding for her third Commonwealth Games gold, and her first on the road.

The Olympic pursuit champion said she was not fit to compete after struggling in her warm up.

She was still confident of lining up in Sunday's road race but that depended on medical treatment from a host of experts.

Her withdrawal left the way open for an Australian trifecta in the time trial, with New Zealander Melissa Holt finishing fourth.

Kiwi gloom lifted a little when McCauley won a bold bronze in the men's event behind Australians Nathan O'Neill and Ben Day.

The Southlander fought back from Games failures in Kuala Lumpur and Manchester, and a hit-and-run driver who knocked him off his bike on New Year's Eve and left him with a broken wrist.

He got his bad luck out of the way early.

Graeme Ede put himself in the medal hunt after two rounds of the men's trap, which continues today.

He shot two rounds of 24 out of 25 to be tied for third on 48, just one point behind Michael Diamond of Australia and Manavijt Singh Sandhu of India.

A women's hockey medal came more clearly into focus, when the Black Sticks hammered England 4-0 to finish top of their pool, enabling them to dodge mighty Australia in the semifinals.

Another trans-Tasman final looms closer in the netball and women's basketball, with the Silver Ferns easily accounting for South Africa 74-37 last night, and the Tall Ferns sealing a place in the final.

Table tennis emerged as the New Zealand sport of the day, winning eight of its nine matches.

Among their hapless victims was Yoshua Shing, the Vanuatuan 12-year-old who is the youngest athlete of the Games.

Brad Chen showed the tiny (1.50m tall, 50kg) youngster no mercy, winning 11-8, 11-6, 11-2, 11-2.

That's the spirit other New Zealand athletes must adopt to end the medal slump.

- NZPA