Myles Hesson leads England into 3x3 Commonwealth final

Myles Hesson is not one for overblown gestures of emotion but a place in the final of the Commonwealth Games is worth a primal scream.

In the Smithfield market that he used to visit with his grandmother, Hesson and the England 3x3 basketball team edged their semi-final against Canada 13-12 in a thriller to set up a date with Australia on Tuesday.

This summer, Team England, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, comprises of over 400 athletes, all vying for medal success.

It all came down to a final Canadian shot, but England’s defence stood tall – literally – as they clinched a place in the final.

Hesson said: “It’s incredible, when that last shot went up and missed, I don’t think I’ve ever expressed that much emotion in my life. You can ask my family, my friends, they have probably never seen me scream so hard. When we win, it’s going to feel great.

“Anything can happen at those times of the game so my heart was in my mouth. But we played good defence, we trusted our defence, trusted that it was going to be a tough shot and they missed and we came away with a deserved win.

“We only want the gold medal, that’s all we have been working towards, us – the women and the men – over the last two and a half months, we’ve been working hard for this moment and to have us both in the final is amazing.

“The fans have been amazing all week, I just can’t wait until tomorrow.”

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