Hockey star Susannah Townsend begins her Commonwealth Games campaign in Glasgow on Thursday with her only focus on winning a gold medal.

The England women’s schedule begins at 11am with a clash against Wales.
Scotland, Australia and Malaysia provide the other pool opposition with the Australia game falling on Townsend’s 25th birthday on Monday.

The top two in each pool qualify for the semi-finals.
Former Canterbury skipper Townsend – who returns to Polo Farm this summer after a year at Reading – was part of the England side which finished a disappointing 11th at the World Cup in the Netherlands, last month, having gone with ambitions of a place on the podium.

Townsend admitted: “We went to the World Cup to win a medal and completely failed at that. It’s been a tough time. We didn’t do well, we disappointed ourselves.

“It was not a reflection of how well we’ve been playing and how good we are. Unfortunately, a World Cup only comes around once every four years and you can’t afford to slip up.”

The midfielder added: “Since then we’ve had a lot of meetings to discuss what happened. We’ve made some changes and now we’re looking forward.

“The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event which, in my opinion, sets you up for an Olympics, because you don’t have that experience anywhere else."

“It’s hard to peak at two tournaments so close together but after our World Cup disappointment, we’re now looking to make a statement and do well in Scotland.

“We know we’re good enough to compete for a medal and be up there and our priority is on winning the Commonwealth Games.”

Canterbury’s Nikki Lloyd and Nikki Kidd will represent Scotland, new signing Dirkie Chamberlain will play for South Africa, while from the men’s side. Kwan Browne and Mickel Pierre will represent Trinidad in
Scotland.