WELSH medal hope Neville Bonfield has suffered a weekend to forget.

The Pontypool-based 100 metres visually-impaired athlete had his classification reassessed late Friday night to B3 - and that would have meant an early return home from the Commonwealth Games as Manchester 2002 is only for B1 and B2 classed athletes.

Bonfield, whose 21st birthday was last Wednesday, is classified B2 by the British Blind Sports Association.

But the reclassification by Games organisers would have meant he could not run in tomorrow's sprint.

So the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales requested an independent assessment, and leading expert Dr George Challe overturned Manchester 2002's reclassification and reverted Bonfield back to B2, thus allowing the Torfaen man to compete.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Bonfield said: "I am just so glad it's all over and I can concentrate on athletics, which is why I am here."

Welsh team boss Dr Wayne Griffiths admitted: "We were always confident Neville would be confirmed as B2 but it was a worrying time."