Badminton: Goode and Archer shake off poor start for glory

Simon Archer and Jo Goode completed their comeback from adversity to claim Commonwealth gold for England at the Bolton Arena yesterday.

A year ago Britain's most successful mixed doubles pair were on the verge of splitting as Archer struggled with a career-threatening knee injury and Goode took 14 months out to give birth to her second child.

Archer and Goode, the only Britons ever to claim an Olympic badminton medal, recovered from a nightmare start to beat the Malaysian pair, Chew Choon Eng and Chin Eei Hui, 0-7, 7-5, 7-3, 7-3.

Given their recent tribulations it was slightly surprising to see Archer and Goode respond so well to such an appaling first set. The Malaysians stormed into the lead in just 136 seconds and Goode admitted: "It felt like we were still in bed."

Archer said the recent painful memories had inspired him and winning was a just reward for his sterling efforts. "We've been through a hell of a lot over the past year and we wanted to prove we could come back," he said. "We weren't at our best but we supported each other well and cut out the sloppy errors. It's great to be a champion again."

England's Tracey Hallam improved on the bronze she won in Kuala Lumpur four years ago, but had to settle for silver after her four-set defeat by Singapore's Li Li in the women's singles final.

Hallam hit back after losing the first set but just missed out in the third before Li's extra fitness ultimately told.

The Staffordshire girl had given her all but went down 7-5, 5-7, 8-7, 7-0 and admitted: "I was 3-0 up in the third set and I had the match in control but that was the crucial set. I came here thinking the worst I wanted was bronze, so when the disappointment has gone I'm sure I'll be happy with silver. It was unbelievable to walk on to the court and hear such a roar from the crowd."

Muhammad Hashim, seeded third, captured the men's singles crown with a five-set win over the No 2 seed Lee Tsuen Seng in the all-Malaysian final. The pair had never met in international competition, but Lee had won two domestic tournament meetings with the 19-year-old. Hashim pounced on unforced errors by Lee, who looked more tired than his younger opponent and triumphed 7-3, 7-1, 3-7, 7-4.

In another all-Malaysian final, Chew Choon Eng and Chan Chong Ming beat Choong Tan Fook and Chang Kim Wai, 7-5, 4-7, 2-7, 7-5, 7-3, to take the men's doubles gold.

Ang Li Peng and Lim Pek Siah added another gold for Malaysia by defeating Nicole Gordon and Sara RunestenPetersen of New Zealand, 7-8, 7-4, 2-7, 7-5, 7-0, in the women's double final.