COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Ian Thorpe made it five down, two to go, as he struck gold in the 100 metres freestyle yesterday.

Thorpe, set a Games record as he cruised to victory in a personal best time of 48.73 seconds, beating the 48.81 he set in the semi-finals.

In claiming yet another impressive victory, the Australian beat the haul of four gold medals he won in the last Commonwealth games in Kuala Lumpur four years ago, when he was just 15 years old.

After collecting his latest gold medal, he was straight back in the pool for the first semi-final of the 100 metres backstroke.

For a split second it looked as though Thorpe's efforts in the previous final had taken a little too much out of him, as he reached the turn in fifth place. But he stepped up a gear in the final 30 metres and touched down as the winner in a time of 56.49.

So with five gold medals, 19-year-old Thorpe has two more gongs in his sights.

Tonight he chases that 100 metre backstroke title, which is perhaps the one race in which he faces serious competition.

Matt Welsh, the Australian champion, was faster than Thorpe in the heats and will be aiming to prevent his compatriot from leaving Manchester with a 100 per cent record of seven out of seven titles.

Welsh (25), who is aiming to make up for the disappointment of being disqualified from the 200 metres backstroke, went in the second semi-final, and was the comfortable winner in a time of 55.91, again faster than his main rival.

It might be dangerous to provoke Thorpe, but there was an air of confidence and a touch of the mind games from Welsh as he said: "That was a swim just to secure Lane Four in the final, that's what everyone wants. I thought about going faster, but the race before was slower, so that was all that was necessary."

In the end, Thorpe qualified for the final as only the fourth fastest, which means he will have to swim in one of the outer lanes, something he is unaccustomed to.

Meanwhile, the "Friendly Games" image was yesterday hit by another judging controversy when the top-seeded table tennis player Johnny Huang threatened to walk out after accusing Wales's Adam Robertson of cheating, forfeiting the chance of a men's doubles medal.

In an astonishing outburst the 39-year-old former Chinese national squad player from Canada also launched into a prolonged torrent of insults after a dispute over whether a ball had landed in the correct service box. Later, with the score at 1-1, there was an even more blazing row. At the end of it Huang stormed off, guaranteeing Robertson and his partner Ryan Jenkins at least a bronze, and shouting angrily at Robertson that if he wanted a medal he could have one.

"That's why our sport is not so big, because of people like him," Huang said. "He knew 100 per cent that the ball was out, but tried to cheat. I have never done anything like this before."

Huang also said he would quit the singles, in which he is seeded to take away the Englishman Matthew Syed's title, and it was only when he reappeared on court, more than an hour later, looking grim and tired, that it was certain he had changed his mind.

Kenya's rugby union sevens players amazed the Manchester crowds after two superb performances against highly fancied opposition.

The Africans, who were defeated 71-0 by Fiji at the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, produced the competition's first upset coming from behind to beat sixth-ranked Samoa 28-20.

Less than 90 minutes later the hard-tackling Kenyans almost produced another shock when they led England 12-5 with only seconds remaining in the first half before former New Zealand rugby league international Henry Paul's incisive running inspired his side to a comfortable 33-12 victory.

"We just lapsed a bit," said Kenyan forward Charles Cardovallis. "A few missed tackles here and there (and) playing a team like England if you make those kind of mistakes they'll beat you in the end."

Paul, whose incisive running produced two spectacular individual tries and set up another, said the Kenyans had tired in the second half.

"They're really athletic blokes," Paul said. "They kept the ball alive well and really supported each other. We needed to buckle down on our game and thankfully we did.

In the second half they tired and we're a fit team so hopefully that will bode well later in the tournament.