by Alex Hoad

Canterbury's Nat Seymour came off the bench to help England begin their pursuit of a Commonwealth Games gold medal with a 4-1 win over Wales.

The medal favourites were grateful for three penalty corners from Leicester defender Crista Cullen to overcome the spirited Welsh side in sweltering conditiions in Delhi's Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium early on Tuesday morning.

England and former Canterbury Coach Danny Kerry said: "We dominated for 70 minutes but if we want to win Gold we'll have to play better."

England's next Pool B clash is against Canada in the early hours of Wednesday.

Canterbury player-coach Kwan Browne and Ashford midfielder Akim Toussaint were left disappointed as Trinidad & Tobago's hockey campaign began with a 7-1 hammering at the hands of New Zealand in the early hours of Tuesday.

Petts Wood's Carl Baxter won on his first appearance at the Games, helping England to cruise past the Falkland Islands in the badminton team event.

Canadian-born Baxter overcame the Falkland Islands' Michael Brownlee 2-0 to help England to a 5-0 win on Monday but sat out the 5-0 cruise against Uganda later in the day.

Milton Regis bowlers Sian Gordon (pictured) and Sandy Hazell have begun their Lawn Bowls campaign with three straight victories.

Playing alongside Jamie-lea Winch, Gordon, from Whitstable, and Hazell, from Maidstone, took on the Norfolk Islands on Monday and won the first set 14-7 and the second 21-6 to start their Group A campaign in style.

The trio then overcame Wales 8-7 in the first set in the early hours of Tuesday before a 15-8 victory in the second secured a 2-0 win overall.

Their third game, on Tuesday morning, proved a tougher test against Canada but a 15-9 win in set one, followed by an 8-4 defeat in the second forced a tie-break which they won 4-1.

The trio's quest for a medal continues with another game on Wednesday and two more the following day.

MORE COMMONWEALTH GAMES NEWS, INCLUDING DETAILS OF MORE CANTERBURY HOCKEY PLAYERS WILL APPEAR HERE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.