BIRMINGHAM, England — Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls made a statement in their opening match at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, with a resounding 72-43 win over Wales at the National Exhibition Centre last night in a performance that forced even the partisan Welsh crowd to show its appreciation.

Tenacity in defence, incisive play in the middle third, and sniper-style shooting by the towering duo of Jhaniele Fowler and Shimona Nelson, left Coach Connie Francis with a massive smile after the game as the Jamaicans launched their medal hunt in convincing fashion.

“I’m very proud of what the girls put out today, I thought that they worked as a unit. We tried different combinations and they see that they’re getting it together. I thought that, especially Adean [Thomas], she’s really looking remarkable in that midcourt area … I think that all the girls did very well, it was a very good performance today [yesterday],” Francis told the Jamaica Observer.

“What I like is that we started the game with a different combination, not our customary combination, and they were able to put it together. I know that this is important. We have done all the groundwork because the expectation is high and what we’re expecting as a team is to go out there and do this, put it together,” Francis added.

The girls will have to put it together again tonight when they face the fifth-ranked South Africans at the same venue starting at 6:00 pm (12:00 pm Jamaica time).

Francis, fully confident in the all-around quality and experience in her squad, said that she is not overly concerned about tonight’s opponents, noting that she is focused on ensuring there is no complacency in her squad following last night’s massive win.

“We just have to tweak a few things in there… we’re not going to underestimate any team, we are going to give them that total respect, but we also have to be proud of what we have in our squad and to just really pound them with our strength,” Francis said.

Fowler led from the front in yesterday’s win, with 32 goals from 33 attempts in her 30 minutes on the court, with Shimona Nelson, who also saw half hour of action, adding 29 from 29. Centre Nicole Dixon-Rochester was also impressive with 17 assists and one interception, with wing attack Khadija Williams serving up the most assists in the game with 22.

There were mixed results for Jamaica’s squash players with Chris Binnie brushing aside Ghana’s Evans Ayih 3-0 (11-1, 11-1, 11-3), while youngster Julian Morrison lost 3-0 to Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal, going down 5-11, 4-11, 3-11.

It was also a tough day for the country’s men’s rugby sevens team, which suffered heavy defeats to Australia, who beat them 62-0 and Kenya, who enjoyed a 45-0 victory over the Jamaicans.

Coach Wendy Lee was left impressed with Jamaica’s young swimmers, particularly Zaneta Alvaranga and Kito Campbell, despite no progressions among the Jamaicans from yesterday’s heats.

Seventeen-year-old Alvaranga (1:03.02) was third in her women’s 100m butterfly heat with Kelsie Leigh Campbell (1:04.32) finishing eighth in her heat. Sidrell Williams (35.32), who only arrived in Birmingham on the previous day, was eighth in his men’s 50m butterfly heat, while Mackenzie Headley was seventh in the heats of the women’s 50m breaststroke in 33.85.

Olympian Keanan Dols won his men’s 100m backstroke heat in 57.80 seconds, but did not advance after not clocking one of the 16-fastest times in the event. Nathaniel Thomas was fourth in 1:00.27 and Campbell was seventh in his men’s 200m backstroke heat with a time of 2:29.95.

In badminton, Jamaica suffered a 3-2 defeat to South Africa in the mixed teams competition before going down 5-0 to Malaysia. Their wins in the South Africa contest came from Samuel Ricketts, who outclassed Caden Kakora, 21-14, 21-9 in men’s singles play, and from the Ricketts and Joel Angus men’s doubles pairing, who stopped Jarred Elliott and Robert Summers 21-18, 21-17.

Cyclists Zoe Boyd, Daniel Palmer, and Malik Reid were seventh in their team sprint qualifying assignment, while the lawns bowls team of Mervyn Edwards and Robert Simpson had a mixed day with a 17-16 win over Norfolk Island and a 4-33 loss to Namibia.

Meanwhile, triathlete Phillip McCatty finished 37th from 44 competitors in the men’s individual (sprint distance) final.

— Andre Lowe