Atkinson hunts medal

Delhi, India:

As if breaking her own record twice in one day was not enough, Alia Atkinson, the star for Jamaica on yesterday's first day of competition here at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, will be hunting the island's first medal when she contests the 50-metre breaststroke final at the SPM Swimming Complex.

If successful, Atkinson would become the first Jamaican to win a swimming medal at the Common-wealth Games since 2002, when Janelle Atkinson won bronze medals in the 400m and 800m freestyle.

This after the 21-year-old secured her spot in the medal round after breaking the national record twice in the event.

The Sunshine Girls also found joy yesterday, making light work of Caribbean neighbours Trinidad and Tobago 75-36 at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Pool A preliminary round action, in a strong show of intent; while Jamaica's table tennis team also started on a winning note, by getting the better of St Lucia 3-0 in team competition.

But it was Atkinson who grabbed the attention. The Jamaican, who swam to four gold medals at the recent Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games, finished fourth in her semi-final in a time of 32.13 seconds, erasing the old mark of 32.24 seconds she had set a few hours earlier in the qualifying round.

The event was won by Australia's Leisel Jones in 31.29 seconds, ahead of England's Rebecca Ajula-Bushell, 31.47, and Australia's Sarah Katsoulis, 31.56.

Team manager Brian James is extremely happy with Atkinson's accomplishments and believes it will serve as a motivator to lift the other team members.

"I think this is the best thing that could have happened to us at this point," said James. "A start like this makes all of our objectives seem possible."

Earlier, Atkinson bettered her old national record 32.59 seconds, which was set at the last Commonwealth Games in 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.

However, the 21-year-old was way off her best and could only manage sixth place in the 200m freestyle, with a time of 2:24.39 seconds in her heat. That was well below her national record mark of 2:21.69, which was set in 2006 at the CAC Games in Colombia.

Victoria Ho also found things rough in the pool, finishing last in heat four of the women's 200m freestyle event despite recording a personal best of 2:08.25.

She was almost 10 seconds behind Australian winner, Blair Evans, who won in 1:59.25 seconds. New Zealand's Lauren Boyle was second in 1:59.33 seconds, while England's double Olympic swimming champion, Rebecca Adlington, was third with a time of 1:59.56.

Ho will now turn her attention to the 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle events, which will be contested tomorrow.

Alexia Royal-Eatmon was also unsuccessful in her bid to qualify for the women's 50m butterflyfield, finishing seventh in her heat in 31.09 seconds. Marieke Guehrer (Australia) won in 26.64 seconds ahead of Hayley Palmer (New Zealand), 27.16, and Amy Smith (England), 27.25.

The young Jamaican hopefuls will line up in heat four of the women's 100m backstroke today, before switching her attention to the 100m butterfly and the 50m backstroke tomorrow and Thursday, respectively.

On the court, the Sunshine Girls led from start to finish with quarterly scores of 20-8, 37-21 and 52-29 and will now prepare for their next game against Malta at the Thygaraj Sports Complex.

Competition

Romelda Aiken again led the scoring with 37 points from 42 attempts, while Jhaniele Fowler supported with 20 from 23. Simone Forbes added 11 from 13 tries towards the victory.

The badminton team was swept 5-0 at the hands of New Zealand and Singapore in the mixed team competition at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, while Bruce Burrowes fell 11-1, 11-5, 11-2 in round one of the men's squash singles, at the same venue.

"This is the first time I'm playing in a glasscourt (event) so I was a little put off by that," said Burrowes after the defeat. "I will try to make less mistakes and I hope I will get more exposure."

In table tennis, national champion Joseph Dibbs beat Jedaiah Pierre 11-8, 11-7, 11-7; Simon Tomlinson bettered Chris Wells 11-9, 11-9, 11-4; and Kane Watson rallied from a set down to beat Omarie Ferdinand 8-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-3 to hand Jamaica a comfortable victory at the Yamuna Sports Complex.