Having a smashing time

Day One of competition at the Commonwealth Games and I had a ticket for the Badminton Team Event at the Emirates Arena. It was the preliminary competition and, as the teams are seeded, the matches at this stage were rather one-sided affairs (with a few exceptions).

Five courts were in use - one court had Canada v Falkland Islands, the others had South Africa v Norfolk Islands, England v Northern Ireland, Singapore v Jamaica (pictured here) and Australia v Wales.

Each match consisted of a mixed doubles contest, a men's singles, ladies' singles, men's doubles and ladies' doubles (each the best of three sets) and with the exception of Australia v Wales, which ended 4-1, all the matches ended 5-0. Nevertheless, the standard and speed of play was excellent and the atmosphere in the arena was good.

Another pleasant side-effect was that it was indoors and so cool, compared with the weather outside. Coming home to news of some gold medals for Scotland was icing on the cake.