SCOTLAND'S gymnasts will have their final opportunity next weekend to qualify for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The Celtic Cup gets under way at Bells Sports Centre in Perth on Friday with gymnasts from across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Isle of Man set to contest team and individual all-around titles.
The Commonwealth Invitational then begins on Saturday afternoon with a 10-strong team of Scots comprising Douglas Ross, Adam Cox, Daniel Iley, Ryan McKee and Liam Davie alongside Erin McLachlan, Emma White, Carly Smith, Kirsty Campbell and Beth McKellar.
Amy Regan had hoped that the event would mark her return to competitive action following a foot injury which has left her sidelined since February, but she and her coach Sandy Richardson have made the decision that it's too soon to risk it.
The 19-year-old from Giffnock fractured the talus bone in her left foot in a training fall from the asymmetric bars. "We had thought I might be able to do bars next weekend, but I can't dismount so we've decided not to," she said.
The four-time Scottish champion has already gained the Commonwealth Games qualification standards for all-around, vault, beam and floor.
"As I've started to be able to do more on my foot, I'm feeling a lot more positive and confident about it all," she said. "I've been doing somersaults on the trampoline and I'm back on beam which is good. Hopefully in the next three to four weeks I'll be back doing all my tumbles and vaults again."
However, Regan has had to deal with the additional heartbreaking news of her mother Ann being diagnosed with ovarian cancer three weeks ago.
"It's been hard getting into the gym and focus on training with everything that has been going on," she said. "But at the end of the day my mum says she wants to watch me at the Games so I'm doing it for her. It gives me that extra push to keep going."
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