Sunshine Girls set to headline opening day

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

DELHI, India: Jamaica's Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games journey begins tomorrow with athletes in five sports bowing into action in the Indian capital.

The Sunshine Girls will get their medal quest under way at 6:30 a.m. Jamaica time when they tackle Caribbean neighbours Trinidad and Tobago at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex as preliminary round action in Pool A commences.

This is the fourth time that netball is being played at the Commonwealth Games and Jamaica's best placing came in 2002 when they finished third. However, coach Connie Francis and her girls will be eager to put 2006's disappointing fourth-place finish behind them.

Following the Trinidad and Tobago encounter, Jamaica's next Pool match will be played on Tuesday against Malawi at 2:50 a.m. (Jamaican time). The Pool is completed by World Champions Australia, Samoa and host nation India while Pool B sees New Zealand, England, South Africa, Papau New Guinea, Barbados and the Cook Islands.

Swimming action

All three swimmers will also be in action at the Dr SPM Swimming Complex with Central America and Caribbean Games (CAC) 800m freestyle champion Victoria Ho contesting the heats of the women's 200m freestyle event.

Alia Atkinson, who just recently enjoyed a four gold medal-winning performance at the CAC Games, will be hunting a place in tomorrow's final of the women's 200m individual medley when she contests the heats earlier in the day before also lining up in the 50m breaststroke heats. Fifteen-year-old Alexia Royal-Eatman will line up in the heats of the women's 50m butterfly.

Jamaica's badminton team, which is being led the experienced Charles Pyne on the male side and Alya Lewis on the female team, will bow into action when the mixed team competition schedule begins at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, also on Monday. The team competition runs through to October 9 at which point they will turn their attention to the individual and doubles competitions.

Team manager and president of the Jamaica Badminton Association Vishwanauth Tolan is not expecting too much from his young team but is hoping that they will at least be able to beyond the group stage.

"It's going to be very tough but if we can get through the team events up to the quarter-finals or semis, this would be a major accomplishment on our part," said Tolan.

Jamaica only managed one victory at the last Commonwealth Games and Tolan is hoping that Pyne and young Gareth Henry can produce some great results for the team. Henry claimed two bronze medals and a silver at the CAC Games and seems to be in good form heading into Delhi.

The Yamuna Sports Complex will be the venue for the table tennis competition which also gets under way on tomorrow's opening day of action.

National champion Joseph Dibbs, Imani McPherson, Simon Tomlinson and Kane Watson will all be in action as the team looks to improve on their 15th placing at the last Commonwealth Game in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006.

Watson, a student at the University of Technology, is full of confidence ahead of the competition and believes his team has what it takes to meet their objectives at the games.

good team

"We have a very good team, all the guys are doing well and I believe that if we go out there and perform to our abilities, we will do well," said Watson.

Jamaica Table Tennis Association boss and team manager Keith Garvey believes that the games couldn't have come at a better time, considering the recent staging of the national championships and the performances of the team members there.

Jamaica's two-man squash team of Christopher Binnie and Bruce Burrowes will also get started tomorrow at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in singles and doubles action.

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