Commonwealth bronze for Sibley

Sibley had left the arena in floods of tears after she and partner Danny Reed had suffered a narrow 3-2 loss to best friend Jo Drinkhall and husband Paul in the semi-final of the mixed doubles.

However, less than 24 hours later she was back in action on the showcourt in Scotstoun against the world number four and 34 from Singapore, Zhan and Tianwei - who had both already achieved team gold medals at the Games.

True to form, the top seeds took the first 11-5,but the English pair mounted an incredible comeback to rattle off three straight games, defying their lowly world rankings, to secure a shock bronze medal and ensure a perfect 1-2-3 for Team England.

And, after the lows of the previous day, 26-year-old Sibley was understandably delighted to have bounced back to claim her first Games medal.

Speaking shortly after a memorable victory celebration, she said: “It feels absolutely amazing, I can’t quite believe it, I’m still shaking a little bit. We knew the pressure was going to be all on them but we knew that we play well together and if we just kept the pressure on them, we could cause an upset.”

Reed added: “It feels amazing. It shows we have got a good friendship and good trust and when you are under pressure that shows. I’m really proud of us. For England to have a one-two-three is amazing and it’s a dream come true.”

Unfortunately for Sibley, the day would end on a bitter note as she and Jo Drinkhall, who had earlier claimed mixed doubles gold, threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 in the women’s doubles bronze medal match to Canada’s Anqi Luo and Zhang Mo.

The English pair were well on top throughout the first three ends, leading 2-0 and 8-5 but conceded the third game11-8 before missing a match point at 10-9 in the fourth to get sent to a decider.

The final game also proved close but the Canadian pair came through 12-10 to dampen the celebrations for the English girls.

“I’m absolutely devastated - it would have been different if they had thrashed us but there were only two points in it at the end,” said the former Lillington Free Church player.

“Leading 2-0 we felt really comfortable - then they did up their game but we were still there.

“It’s so devastating but fair play to them and congratulations.

“I think that’s why it hurts so much - if they had outplayed us then we would have held our hands up but we were there with them neck and neck.”

But despite missing out on a second bronze, Sibley was proud to have been a part of a memorable Games for the England team, which yielded an impressive five medals.

“This [doubles] medal would have been the icing on the cake but it wasn’t to be. This has been a positive tournament for English table tennis, so I’ll try and let that sink in a little bit.

“I’m sure when we have our evaluation meeting it will all be positive.

“I’m going to have a few days off - it’s been a long tournament and very emotional - but then I’ll get back to it.”