England take team bronze at Commonwealth Championships

ENGLAND quartet Paul Drinkhall, Darius Knight, Danny Reed and Andrew Rushton have captured bronze at the Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow.

TEAMWORK: Paul Drinnkhall and Darius Knight team up to secure team bronze for England (Getty Images)

British number one Paul Drinkhall has been in fine form of late, having reached the final of the Dunlop Masters and came within a whisker of defeating world number 21 Zoran Primorac of Croatia.

And it was the 19-year-old who led his side to bronze, as he spearheaded a clean sweep of the first group stage as England whitewashed Wales, Northern Ireland and Guernsey.

The second group stage proved more trying for Drinkhall, Knight, Rushton and Reed but the foursome still managed to defeat both hosts Scotland and Australia.

But England finally met their match as they squared off against India for a place in the final.

India took the lead as Sharath Kamal Achanta edged Reed in a five-set thriller, and Drinkhall suffered a similar fate to Subhajit Saha, leaving England with it all to do.

And England were forced to settle for bronze when Rushton was no match for Sourav Chakroborty as India took an unassailable 3-0 advantage.

But Drinkhall restored some pride for England as he overcame Achanta, before Reed had his revenge when he took a five-set match against Saha.

The men's team crown proved a step too far for India as they were defeated 3-1 by Singapore, who completed a team double, having captured the women's title with a thumping 3-0 victory over Malaysia.