N.Zealand's Willis wins dramatic 1500m

MELBOURNE, Mar 25 (Reuters) New Zealand's Nick Willis won a dramatic men's 1500 metres final at the Commonwealth Games today after Australian champion Craig Mottram fell heavily midway through the race.

Willis, sixth at the world championships, ran a brilliant race to finish in three minutes 38.49 seconds. The 22-year-old sat just off the pace as trouble engulfed the middle of the field before making his move with 400m to go.

Canadian Nathan Brannen took the silver in 3:39.20 and Australian Mark Fountain the bronze in 3:39.38.

Disaster struck for Mottram at about the 800m-mark when English runner Andrew Baddeley had his heels clipped by a runner behind him and fell forward into pre-race favourite Mottram, bringing the Australian down.

Both recovered to complete the race, Mottram finishing ninth and Baddeley last.

REUTERS PM BS1534