COMMONWEALTH GAMES: England's women shine on opening day in the lawn bowls

From Sportsbeat staff, in Delhi

ENGLAND'S women were the standout performers among the home nations in the opening day of the lawn bowls.

DOUBLE JOY: Amy Monkhouse (pictured) had a fine day as part of England's pairs team, claiming two wins out of two.

In the pairs there were two wins in Group B for Ellen Falkner and Amy Monkhouse.

A 2-0 victory over Jersey was followed by a 1.5-0.5 triumph over Wales.

There was also victory for England's triples in Group A with a 2-0 win over Norfolk Island.

It was a disappointing day for 72-year-old William Wood whose Scotland triples side lost both their Group A encounters.

Making his eighth Games appearances, Wood was accompanied by Wayne Hogg and David Peacock, but his Scotland team lost their opening match to Malta 1.5-0.5 and were then beaten by South Africa 2-0.

However, the men's doubles faired better with a 2-0 win over Botswana in Group A.

Scotland's women also had a good day with Caroline Brown and Margaret Letham following up their 1-1 draw with Wales by beating Guernsey 2-0 in the doubles.

In the men's triples, Wales began their difficult Group A campaign with a 2-0 defeat to New Zealand, but improved to draw 1-1 with Australia.

However, the men's pairs kicked off their Group B campaign with an impressive 2-0 win against New Zealand.

Rounding off the day for the home nations were Northern Ireland who lost their opening Group A game in the women's pairs 2-0 to Zambia, but bounced back to earn a 1-1 draw with the Cook Islands.