The English trio of Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Rhianna Parris-Smith surged to silver in the women's team sprint on the opening day of cycling action.
Against a strong Welsh team comprised of Emma Finucane, Lowri Thomas and Rhian Edmunds, the English cyclists crossed the line in 46.901 seconds, slightly slower than Wales' winning time of 46.760.
But it was a performance to be proud of for the team, who were only recently grouped together.
"It’s super special," said Marchant, who won bronze in the same event at Gold Coast 2018.
"I’ve learned not to take anything for granted, so although we finished with a loss tonight and didn’t get that gold medal, I’m incredibly proud to be standing here with a silver medal around my neck. I’m just hungry for more now."
Fellow Olympic champion Capewell added: "We obviously came here to win, but Katie said it perfectly – Wales really turned up today. The strength in depth in British cycling is huge, so we’ve got to be really proud of that.
"There’s obviously a little bit of disappointment because we wanted the gold medal, but hopefully it just makes us hungry for the rest of the weekend.
"It was only three weeks ago that we had our first proper run-out together, so it’s been a bit of a challenge. But we’ve put it together in a short space of time and it’s exciting to see what’s still to come."
It was a successful day all round at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, as the men's team sprinted to silver in the same event.
In a thrilling final against Australia, Hamish Turnbull, Joseph Truman and Harry Ledingham-Horn finished in 43.032 - 0.577 seconds slower than the Australians.
Turnbull has won a silver medal at every major championship, including on his Commonwealth Games debut at Birmingham 2022.
"It’s three Games in a row where I’ve won silver now, so it’s a little bit bittersweet," he said. "The Aussies were on fire again, unfortunately, and we couldn’t quite match them.
"We tried a few different strategies, but neither of them quite tipped us over the edge to beat them. It’s a shame because we were really close – we only just qualified behind them – but what can you do? It’s still a medal, so it’s a good feeling.
"The crowd has been incredible, and I’m glad we were able to put on a good show for them."
And the 27-year-old is using the silver medal as motivation to go for gold when he competes in the keirin on Saturday.
"We’ve got some good shots, especially in the keirin," said Turnbull. "I think my clearance has been really strong recently, so I’m optimistic. I’m looking forward to it."
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