ABERGAVENNY cyclist Becky James has claimed a Commonwealth silver medal to add to the bronze she won earlier this week.

After a medal winning performance in the 500m time trial on Tuesday, Becky James went one better in the women's sprint race. After qualifying for the quarter-finals, she took to the track to take on her first opponent Scottish racer Jenny Davies and beat her with ease to put her through to the semi's.

Next up she took on Australian Kaarle McCullough and raced into a guaranteed medal position in just two rounds where she met five-times World Champion Anna Mears.

After a defeat in the first round she came back strong to take Mears right to the wire in the second but was beaten to the line by the narrowest of margins.

"Over the moon and chuffed to bits," was how a euphoric Becky James described her state of mind immediately after taking Bronze in Delhi on Tuesday.

"A bronze in my first Commonwealth Games is unbelievable," said the 18-year-old Abergavenny cycling sensation who has written her name into sporting history after joining the prestigious ranks of Sir Harry Llewellyn, as one of the few local athletes to achieve such success on the world stage.

James clocked a personal best of 35,236 seconds in the 500m time trial to earn a place on the podium and claim the second Commonwealth medal for Wales - the first the country has won in this particular event.

James finished behind Australian duo Anna Meares and Kaarle McCulloch as she powered her way to her first ever senior international medal and explained, "I can't explain how happy I am right now. I visualised the whole race before and counted down in head what I wanted to do. I came clean out from the gate and went on from there."

Anna Meares successfully defended her title in the two-lap event in a Commonwealth record of 33.758secs, while her compatriot Kaarle McCulloch took silver in 34.780.

Becky revealed, "The Aussie girls are always so strong and to be honest I didn't expect to beat them. To go out and do what I have done here, I can't even put it into words.

"Getting a gold medal in the Junior World Championships was such a big thing for me last year and stepping up into senior and getting a bronze medal in my first major senior event – I'm just over the moon!"

A delighted Welsh cycling team manager Gareth Sheppard said, "It is fantastic for us to win a medal on the first day of competition."

A brief look at Becky's short, but hugely successful career will tell you that she definitely knows a thing or two about turning out the big performances for the big occasions.

Becky, who has trained with the likes of Chris Hoy for the Commonwealths, will now focus her thoughts on stepping up to the plate and making her mark in the Women's Sprint.

"I'm just going to give the sprint my best shot. I don't want to jinx myself. The Aussie girls are really strong so there's going to be some tough competition out there but I'm really looking forward to it."

Also on the road to Commonwealth success is 14 year old table tennis player Charlotte Carey, whose family are from Brynmawr.

Charlotte secured her first ever win at the Commonwealth Games on Monday, after recovering from defeat in her opening match.

The 14-year-old was beaten 12-10, 11-6, 11-8 by Australia's top-ranked player Miao Miao as the Wales lost the encounter in the team competition 3-0. But she bounced back to beat Vanuatu's Pareina Matariki 11-8, 11-2, 15-3 as the Welsh team won the tie against the Pacific islanders 3-1 overall.

Charlotte then went on with the Welsh team to beart Guernsey 3-1 to play for position 9 or 10. Charlotte Carey beat Alice Loverage who is ranked some 400 places above her.