Welsh 11-year-old wins first Games match

Eleven-year-old Anna Hursey has a taste for Commonwealth Games victory, but don't expect the Welsh table tennis prodigy to go too hard on the celebrations.

Hursey, the youngest athlete at the Games, partnered with Charlotte Carey on Thursday to claim a 3-2 win over Indian pair Madhurika Patkar and Mouma Das in the preliminary rounds of the team competition.

Standing at 155cm and weighing 45kg, Hursey showed she also boasts a surprisingly fearsome forehand, delighting the fascinated Gold Coast crowd with several big winners.

With India eventually claiming the best-of-five meeting 3-1, Hursey was whisked away from waiting media without taking questions.

Doubles partner Carey, 21, soon stepped in to fill the breach and answer the burning question: what's it like having a teammate who's still in primary school?

"Obviously she's 11, so she needs to go to bed a bit earlier than us," Carey said.

"We need to try and stop her from drinking about 12 Powerades that are just hanging around in the fridges for free.

"It's like having our own child here a little bit sometimes."

Life in the athletes' village - often party central - is a little different for Hursey, whose Chinese-born mother Phoebe acts as her chaperone.

Keen to ensure she has some fun outside of competition, Carey's teammates have taken the Mandarin-speaking youngster under their wing.

"To be honest, you would never think she's 11," Carey said.

"Sometimes we have to be a bit careful what we're talking about because you forget that she's so young.

"She's a good player and obviously it's nice that she's bringing a lot of attention to table tennis."

Wales will play their second preliminary match against Sri Lanka on Friday.

Australia's team started their campaign brightly with wins against Canada and Mauritius, highlighted by Tracey Feng and Miao Miao's epic five-game victories over their Canadian opponents.