England are too strong for Falklands at Games

Marco Giacomelli13 April 2012

Only a handful of fans bothered to turn up for the start of the mixed team badminton competition at the Commonwealth Games today and England's whitewash of the Falkland Islands didn't exactly generate a buzz for the later rounds.

The runners-up from Melbourne four years ago eased to a 5-0 win against the Falklands, who have just 40 regular players.

England's flagbearer Nathan Robertson, who won silver with Gail Emms in the mixed doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was given the morning off.

However, it was a special occasion for the Falklands, whose players all come from the Islands' only club in Port Stanley.

Douglas Clark, who is soon to move to England to start a building and surveying course at Northumbria University, said: "We couldn't have asked for a more difficult opener but it gives us something to work on.

"For us it's very difficult to get the competitive edge because back home we have to play against the same opponents every week."

The poor turn-out at the Siri Fort Sports Complex was mirrored elsewhere on the opening day of competition in Delhi.

There were large swathes of empty seats at the Dr SP Mukherjee Aquatics Complex for the morning swimming heats and there was also a sparse crowd for the women's hockey at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

In the tennis, England's James Ward and Josh Goodall eased through as expected. Ward beat Patrick Leong from the Soloman Islands 6-1, 6-1 to set up a possible clash with Scot Jamie Murray.

Goodall saw off Alberton Richelieu from St Lucia 6-2, 6-2 and said: "I played pretty well and was pretty focused on my own service game."

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