Team bronze for Sibley makes up for a series of Commonwealth near misses

The Leamington player featured in every match of the tournament as England got on the podium with a 3-1 victory over the hosts in the bronze medal match.

Although she was beaten 3-2 (5-11, 21-19, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7) by Jian Fang Lay in the second match, Sibley, 29, then teamed up with Maria Tsaptsinos to beat Lay and Miao Miao 3-1 (11-2, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7) in the doubles to put England 2-1 ahead.

Tin-Tin Ho, who had earlier beaten Melissa Tapper 3-2 (11-4, 8-11, 11-3, 7-11, 11-8) then sealed overall victory with a 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 14-12, 11-13, 11-6) triumph over Miao in a tense match.

It was England’s first ever Commonwealth Games women’s team medal after some near misses and Sibley said: “We just believed in ourselves and were playing really, really well. It was a bit tense at times, Australia are a really good team but I thought we all dug in and kept our heads when we needed to and showed what we can do as a team.

“I’m so proud of all the girls. It’s fantastic to come away with a team medal.

“It’s my fourth Games and the first time I’ve won a medal in team. I’ve finished fourth a couple of times which is the worst place to finish but I’ve kind of used that emotion a little bit going into this bronze medal match.

“At times it was very nerve-wracking. It’s a lot easier playing than watching, especially Tin-Tin at the end - my stomach was in knots. She was fantastic to keep her nerve.”

England had reached the semi-finals thanks to 3-0 victories over Guyana and Vanuatu in the groups and a 3-1 defeat of Canada in the quarter-finals. However, they came up against eventual gold medallists India in the semi-finals and were beaten 3-0.

The individual events begin tomorrow, with Sibley featuring in singles and doubles.