Joy Haizelden is determined to help her England team-mates secure a medal upgrade at the Commonwealth Games.
The Paralympian is making her second appearance for Team England in the 3x3 wheelchair basketball competition, joining forces with Lucy Robinson, Jade Atkin and Charlotte Moore.
They claimed bronze four years ago in Birmingham but began this campaign with a 16-6 win over arch-rivals Australia, the silver medallists in 2022.
And it doesn't get any easier, with world champions Canada, the defending gold medallists, next up on Sunday.
"That was an awesome game," said Haizelden, 27, who made her senior international debut as a teenager before making her Paralympic debut in Rio.
"We lost to Australia in Birmingham in 2022, so it was really good to get the win this time. It was a nice bit of revenge and a great start to our Games.
"It's Canada next, so it doesn't get any easier. They are world champions and Commonwealth champions, so they're a really strong team. But we have belief in our group and back ourselves to do well."
England were drawn in the 'group of death' for these Games, alongside all three medallists from Birmingham and South Africa, making this a must-win match on the opening morning of the Games.
"The tactic is just to go out and play hard," said Atkin.
"We know they're a quality team, but we'll focus on playing our game and giving everything we've got.
"Three of us also played at the last Commonwealth Games, and Lucy has come into the squad and slotted in really well. She knows how we play, and I think we complement each other because we all have faith in one another. We believe in each other, and we all know what we're capable of.
"We went into the competition wanting to win gold. We were happy to come away with bronze, but it's made us even hungrier to go for gold this time."
There was double delight in the Anglo-Australian battles as Team England’s men also got the better of their antipodean rivals in their opening encounter.
This was a tougher affair, but a strong finish was enough to see the quartet of James Hazell, Oscar Knight, Tom Harvey and Peter Cusack to a 16-13 success.
But while Hazell was thrilled to get off the mark with a victory, he is only too aware of how much work still needs to be done.
He said: “I don't think we need to read too much into it right now because it's the first game of the tournament.
“We've got a long way to go still and we've still got two difficult games in pool stages, let alone go into the knockouts. So take the confidence from that, move on to the next one and see what we can improve on.”
Sportsbeat 2026
