Commonwealth Games: Para-cyclist James Ball wins Wales' first medal

Para-cyclist James Ball won Wales' first medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Ball, along with his guide Pete Mitchell, won silver in the men's B&VI 1,000m time trial.

The victory came after 11-year-old table tennis player Anna Hursey won a game on her Commonwealth Games debut.

Wales women caused a big upset in their hockey game against India with a 3-2 win, while Non Stanford finished eighth in the women's triathlon.

Ball finished second behind Scotland rider Neil Fachie and his pilot Matt Rotherham.

The 26-year-old grew up in Ponthir, Torfaen county, and competes in the visually impaired or blind category where he is piloted on a tandem bike by another rider.

"It feels absolutely fantastic, it's a great honour to finally get the first one," said Ball.

"I hope it's a confidence boost for the whole team.

"I'm always on tenterhooks with (Neil Fachie). I've just come from Rio in the World Championships and knew he would be good competition.

"I'm just pleased to be so close to him.

"It's my first Commonwealth Games. I hope I've done the team proud and will treasure it for the rest of my life."

The men's and women's team pursuit and women's team sprint squads had all finished fifth and thought the Wales squads had missed out on medal races.

The New Zealand men's team pursuit and Canadian women's sprint squad were disqualified, meaning those Wales teams went through to the bronze medal races in both events. Both teams ended up fourth.

Hursey, 11, wins on debut

Hursey won a game on her Commonwealth Games debut in the table tennis doubles alongside Charlotte Carey.

The match was part of the team event, a five-rubber series event which brought Wales their only win as India won 3-1.

Earlier, Wales women's hockey team sealed a 3-2 victory over India at the Gold Coast.

But there was disappointment for Team Wales captain Stanford as the former world triathlon champion finished eighth.

The 29-year-old competed in the first Gold Coast Games medal event, which was won by Bermuda's Flora Duffy.

England's Jessica Learmonth finished second while Canada's Joanna Brown won the bronze.

Hockey joy for Wales

In hockey, Natasha Marke-Jones scored a late winner in the victory over a side ranked 16 below India in the world rankings.

It is the first time Wales have claimed the scalp of a top 10 team for the first time in more than 30 years.

Wales are ranked 26th while India are 10th.

Lisa Daley and Sian French gave Wales a half-time lead before India equalised. Marke-Jones scored the winner with three minutes left.

Wales men drew 1-1 with Pakistan in the opening game.

Wales captain Leah Wilkinson said: "We've been really doing well for the last couple of years and this is our time to show what we could do.

"Some of the younger girls were asking me 'what's the biggest win you've ever had?'.

"This is the biggest win we've ever had.

"And the way we did it by not giving up means the world to us."

Swimming, boxing, weightlifting

Glasgow 2014 1500m freestyle bronze medallist Daniel Jervis set two personal bests in the 400m event to finish fourth after qualifying second fastest for the final.

Jack Thomas and Alex Rosser finished fifth and sixth respectively in para-swimming's S14 200m freestyle. Alys Thomas and Xavier Castelli qualified for Friday's finals in the 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke.

Boxer Billy Edwards is through to the last 16 of the 64kg section after beating Alston Ryan from Antigua 5-0 on points.

Weightlifter Seth Casidsid finishes ninth in the 56kg section, while Hannah Powell finished ninth in the 48kg category.

Squash, bowls, cycling

Tesni Evans has reached the last 16 of the women's squash singles after defeating Taylor Fernandez, while Deon Saffery qualified for the second round after beating Pakistan's Madina Zafar before losing to New Zealand's Joelle King.

Joel Makin is through to the last 16 of the men's singles after defeating Bermuda's Micah Franklin and Sailesh Pala from Fiji but Peter Creed is out after being defeated 3-1 by Lewis Walters from Jamaica.

In bowls, Laura Daniels won her opening two singles matches while the men's trio of Jonathan Tomlinson, Stephen Harris and Ross Owen also secured a pair of victories.

The women's fours lost Wales 25-11 to Canada, but the Wales men's pairs beat the Isle of Man 22-11.

In the mixed B2/B3 pairs, Wales lost 14-11 to New Zealand.

In gymnastics, the Wales men finished seventh in the artistic team event.