Although she believes the Commonwealth Games is just a warm-up to her big target of winning a gold medal at September's Asian Games in Incheon, Tao Li delivered a surprise yesterday in Glasgow by finishing second in her 50m butterfly semi-finals to make it to the last eight.

The Singaporean swimmer recorded a time of 26.33 secs in the first semis, a result that made her fifth fastest qualifier for the final on Sunday night at Tollcross Swimming Centre.

She said: "I have not been in good shape and my focus is on the Asian Games, so this is unexpected. This is my best result of the year.

"I am still going into the final without any expectations. I am going to go in there and give my best. Hopefully, there will be another surprise."

But Joseph Schooling endured a disappointing day at the pool when he finished last in the 200m butterfly final with a time of 1:59.09, 4.02 secs behind the gold medallist, South Africa's Chad le Clos.

Schooling, who qualified after a 1:58.04 semi-final result, started the race well and was in fifth place after the second lap but the rest of the pack powered ahead eventually to leave him trailing.

The disconsolate 19-year-old declined to speak to the media after his race.