MEN have always dominated the Scottish team at Commonwealth Games, but that may be about to change this year in Glasgow.

Never have women had a better chance to dominate, with a significant number of Scotland's most heavily-touted potential medallists being female.

Hannah Miley (swimming), Jennifer McIntosh (shooting), Katie Archibald (cycling), Eilidh Child and Lynsey Sharp (athletics), and Imogen Bankier and Kirsty Gilmour (badminton) are among the personalities who could be destined to become household names.

Since the Empire Games were first staged in 1930, only once have Scotland's women matched the men: six medals each in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. In the early years, male team numbers outweighed women and, from 1930 to 1950, the medal tally was 40-11 in the men's favour.

There was limited media exposure for women's sport until the late 1960s, but the 1970 Games in Edinburgh were a breakthrough. Rosemary Payne (discus gold in 1970 - and still competing) and Rosemary Stirling (800m gold in 1970) were pioneers for Scottish women's athletics, as was Mary Peters in Northern Ireland, with Olympic pentathlon gold in 1972.

More recently, the women's contribution to Scotland's sporting profile at Commonwealth Games has become much more significant, with 17 men's medals to nine by women in Delhi (2010), 19-10 in Melbourne (2006), and 17-12 - with an additional mixed medal in badminton - in Manchester (2002).

Miley is the Commonwealth's defending 400m individual medley champion and European long and short course champion. Fifth place at last year's World Championships was, she says, a reality check, which she hopes will inspire her to return to her best. Michael Jamieson, the Olympic 200m breastroke silver medallist, will not have to contend with Hungary's World and Olympic champion Daniel Gyurta which will ease the pressure on Miley.

McIntosh earned two golds and a bronze in Delhi as a teenager, and has matured with Olympic experience which has taught her the meaning of pressure.

Archibald, from Milngavie, was part of Britain's European championship pursuit team last year, aged just 19. The GB team have twice dropped Olympic gold medallists to give her a place on the team, and each time broke the world record. Less than two years after riding for pocket money on grass tracks at Scottish highland games, she was on the World Cup circuit, claiming silver in the scratch race and bronze in the individual pursuit.

Child is defending the silver medal she won over 400m hurdles in Delhi. She was top Commonwealth finisher at last year's World Championships in Moscow, too, where he came fifth. She is currently training in South Africa with the Commonwealth's leading visually-impaired sprinter, Libby Clegg.

Child will have a heavy burden of expectation, given that her nemesis, Perri Shakes-Drayton, has ruled herself out this year, because of injury. Last year Child claimed world relay bronze in Moscow, as well as European indoor silver at 400m and gold in the relay.

The athletics team also has the prospect of European 800m champion Sharp, marathon runner Susan Partridge - who was second Commonwealth finisher in the marathon at the Worlds - and talented steeplechaser Eilish McColgan. There are also hopes for the return of Commonwealth bronze medallist Steph Twell and of Lee McConnell at 400m, while Scotland's quartet in the women's 4 x 400m should also be medal contenders.

Bankier and Gilmour are a new doubles pairing, but their event is wide open at the Games. Gilmour, at age 20, is Scotland's leading singles player, while 26-year-old Bankier has broken into the top 25 with Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva since quitting her mixed partnership with Chris Adcock. They made an outstanding start by reaching the semi-finals of the Welsh Open, but need to pile up points quickly in order to gain a high seeding to enhance Games' prospects.

The Scotland women's hockey team is ranked fifth in the Commonwealth. England, Australia, and New Zealand are third, fourth, and fifth in the world rankings respectively, but only India (13th) stand between them and Scotland (16th). There are two Olympians, Sally Conway and Sarah Clark, in a powerful Scottish judo squad, while the women's bowls squads can usually be guaranteed to be medal competitive.

We do not write off the men's potential in Glasgow, but the ladies could command more headlines in 2014.