Bright start

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls opened their Commonwealth Games netball campaign with an emphatic 81-22 win over Trinidad and Tobago at the Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday.

The Sunshine Girls will be aiming for back-to-back wins today when they take on New Zealand in Pool B, after the Silver Ferns beat Scotland 74-44 in their opening game.

Led by 33 goals from 41 attempts from UK-based Azara Wilmot on her senior team debut, the Jamaicans dominated a young Trinidad and Tobago team.

Meanwhile, Sabrina Lyn qualified for today’s final of the women’s 100m breaststroke, while Jamaica’s 3×3 men’s basketball team won one of their three games.

Also today, Martez Cope will make his first appearance of the Games when he takes on Lesotho’s Pooana Khoahli in their men’s 65kg round-of-16 boxing contest.

At the Hydro Arena yesterday, Jamaica’s netball Captain Shamera Sterling-Humphrey was pleased with the team’s execution after they restricted Trinidad and Tobago to a Commonwealth Games low in scoring.

Sterling-Humphrey said they had planned to stifle the Trinidadians’ offence and restrict their scoring chances.

“I’m really, really proud. I feel like each quarter we had a target,” she said after the match. “We started off at five, and then we lowered it. Unfortunately, they got, I think, seven in the second, but yeah, it’s good to keep them at two [in the final quarter] and know that we’re on target.”

Sterling-Humphrey said they were well aware of the advantage they had over their opponents and wanted to use the game as preparation for tougher matches.

“The emphasis lies on keeping possession of the ball. We cannot have that much turnovers when we come up against teams like Trinidad, because when it comes to the harder games, it will be much more difficult for us.”

The number-three-ranked Jamaicans led 24-5 after the first quarter, 43-12 at half-time and 60-20 after the third quarter before emptying the bench in the fourth, which they took 17-8.

Swimmers are reflected as they compete in the Men’s 50m Freestyle heats during the swimming event at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow on day two of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday. (Photo: AFP)

The Jamaican defence also had 35 interceptions and 22 deflections, compared to four and seven, respectively, by their opponents.

Wilmot, who came off the bench in the second quarter, led the scoring with 33 goals from 41 attempts on her senior team debut.

Veteran Romelda Aiken-George scored 25 goals from 27 attempts, while Shanice Beckford converted all 16 of her attempts and Rhea Dixon scored seven from 11 attempts.

Afeisha Noel scored 17 of Trinidad and Tobago’s goals from 19 attempts, with Joelisa Cooper scoring the other five from seven attempts.

Lyn became the first Jamaican swimmer to reach a final after finishing fifth in her semi-final in 1:08.43 minutes at the Tollcross swimming centre. She had placed fourth in her first-round race in 1:09.11.

Lyn was also part of the Jamaican mixed 4x100m relay team that placed third in its first-round heat in 3:43.07, teaming with Collin McKenzie, Kito Campbell and Jessica Calderbank.

Today, Lyn and Calderbank will contest the women’s 100m butterfly, while McKenzie and Campbell are set to swim in the men’s 50m breaststroke.

The Jamaican men’s 3×3 basketball team beat Singapore 22-20 but lost 22-16 to England and 21-13 to Fiji in their opening games.

Also on Saturday, Jamaica’s Robert Simpson lost his third straight match in lawn bowls, going down 2-0 to Wales’ Ross Owen in the men’s singles.

Simpson is set to face England’s Sam Tolchard today and will complete his schedule on Monday against Pakistan’s Mohammed Ayub Qureshi.

England’s Olivia Tchine (left) and Jamaica’s Shamera Sterling-Humphrey vie for the ball during a netball match at the National Indoor Sports Centre in November 2024. (Photo: Collin Reid)