There was lots of sporting action to celebrate on day one at the 2022 Games with medals won in Triathlon, Cycling, Artistic Gymnastics and Swimming.
The round up the best of the day one:
CRICKET
Cricket – Commonwealth Games: Day 1
World champions Australia survived a major scare to beat India by three wickets in the first ever women’s T20 match at the Commonwealth Games.
Ashleigh Gardner proved to be the hero for Australia with 52 not out from just 35 balls to see her side to their target of 155 with six balls to spare.
In the evening match, Kycia Knight and captain Hayley Matthews hit half-centuries as Barbados claimed a 15-run victory over Pakistan to kick off their Group A campaign.
RUGBY SEVENS
Rugby Sevens – Commonwealth Games: Day 1
Samu Kerevi scored a hat-trick of tries as Australia’s men opened their Rugby Sevens campaign with a dominant 62-0 win over Jamaica.
New Zealand began the defence of their title in style against Sri Lanka, but England, bronze medallists three years ago, suffered a shock opening 34-0 defeat to Samoa before beating Sri Lanka 47-19.
In the women’s competition, Gold Coast bronze medallists England thrashed Sri Lanka 57-0 in their opener – but lost 26-19 to Canada in their second match – while defending champions New Zealand started with a 45-7 win over Canada.
Australia, Fiji and New Zealand also laid down markers with big wins over South Africa, Scotland and Sri Lanka respectively.
NETBALL
Four years on from their incredible 52-51 final victory against hosts Australia, England began the defence of their Netball title with a strong 74-22 win over Trinidad and Tobago.
Eleanor Cardwell netted 30 goals and Joanne Harten contributed 30 more for the Roses.
England coach Jess Thirlby said: “Trinidad and Tobago are tricky to play against – they’re great at disrupting our flow, which we struggled with in patches.
“But in the main, what I saw was great impact off the bench and us problem-solving with real purpose.”
Australia’s quest to regain the title started in fine fashion, with a resounding 95-18 win over Barbados.
BASKETBALL 3X3
In the opening match of the day, Canada men claimed a 15-12 victory over Kenya with Bikramjit Gill top-scoring with five of their points before Scotland eased past Sri Lanka 16-9, while the Scots edged Canada 21-20 later on as Kenya beat Sri Lanka 21-18.
BADMINTON
England’s Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith kicked off the badminton mixed team event in style as England completed a 5-0 win over Barbados.
Smith said: “We already have the home crowd advantage, so if you add this sort of feeling to it, it is going to make a huge difference for us. If it’s sold out tomorrow, it’s going to be unbelievable. The atmosphere is electric.”
Malaysia, silver medallists four years ago, and Singapore also began with 5-0 wins.
The hosts added another 5-0 victory over Mauritius with Malaysia and Singapore also winning by the same score line in the evening.
HOCKEY
Hockey – Commonwealth Games: Day 1
Olivia Shannon scored three goals as New Zealand’s defence of their women’s hockey crown began with an astonishing 16-0 win over Kenya.
Scotland beat South Africa 4-2, while India and Canada saw off Ghana 5-0 and Wales 4-0 respectively in Pool A.
The men opened their accounts in the evening session with England easing past Ghana 6-0 and there was a 5-5 draw between New Zealand and Scotland.
TABLE TENNIS
Reigning women’s team champions India beat South Africa 3-0 in their Birmingham 2022 Group 2 opener, with Gold Coast silver medallists Singapore also beating bronze medallists England 3-0 in Group 1.
In the men’s team competition there were 3-0 wins for medal contenders India, England, Nigeria and Singapore.
LAWN BOWLS
Scotland claimed bragging rights with a 23-12 win in their Para Men’s Pairs opener against England.
BOXING
Australia’s Billy Polkinghorn claimed a knockout victory over Fabio Taryll Liam Roselie of the Seychelles inside 30 seconds to rush into the light welterweight round-of-16, while Wales’ Taylor Bevan also won by knockout after beating New Zealand’s Onyx Lye in his light heavyweight bout.
SQUASH
Squash – Commonwealth Games: Day 1
Leungo Katse of Botswana set up a tie with top seed and defending champion Joelle King of New Zealand after beating Zulema Chisenga of Zambia 3-0, while Jade Pitcairn of the Cayman Islands takes on Birmingham-born Sarah-Jane Perry – the 2018 runner-up – next after seeing off Jada Smith-Padmore of Barbados.
In the men’s competition, Niall Engerer came out on top following an all-Maltese clash between fellow Commonwealth Games debutant Kijan Sultana to set up a clash with New Zealand’s top seed and world number two Paul Coll, who won silver four years ago.
Topics
Commonwealth Games Birmingham Event Sports Kolkata
Bengali