ENGLAND have taken a step nearer to Commonwealth Games gold writes Angela Kelly

After overcoming the might of Malaysia on Sunday night on a hot, humid evening more suited to Kuala Lumpur than Bolton Arena, they won their semi-final clash against Scotland on Monday afternoon.

It was all over by the third match, when Manchester's Colin Haughton redeemed his loss last night against world No.2 Choong Hann Wong with a positive victory.

A large crowd of English and Scots' supporters was swelled by two VIPs -- Prince Edward and his wife Sophie.

It was a second visit to the badminton in 24 hours for the Prince. On Sunday night, he sat with Scottish players in the other quarter-final match with Australia, showing his support by bashing together blue, air-filled tubes which are the sport's current supporting weapon of choice.

Now, the team -- led in success so far by Young Lions Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms -- will be watching other semi-final between Singapore and New Zealand to see who they face on Tuesday evening in the final.

But, whatever the outcome of that sell-out match, England is certain to win team medals -- presented this time by Bolton's Mayor, Cllr John Walsh.