English duo beaten in doubles final

Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork had to be content with silver medals in the badminton mixed doubles after they were comprehensively beaten by Malaysian pair Koo Kien Kiet and Chin Eei Hui in just 36 minutes at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

The English pair were the top seeds but could not maintain their good start as the Malaysians enjoyed a deserved victory in a fast-paced match.

Robertson and Wallwork raced into a 5-0 lead in the first game before their opponents responded.

They pulled level at 11-11 and maintained their momentum to take a three-point lead at 16-13.

Robertson and Wallwork refused to let them get away and the pairs were level at 19-19 and then 20-20. However, the Malaysians edged ahead once more and took the opening game 22-20 when Robertson put a smash into the net.

The unseeded Malaysian pair were clearly on top and went on to take the second game 21-12 for a surprisingly one-sided victory.

Wallwork admitted they had been undone by the speed of their opponents' play.

She said: "Unfortunately we couldn't keep up with them. I have never seen them play like that."

The Bolton-born player had lost in the bronze medal play-off of the women's doubles on Wednesday with Gabby White but she denied it had had an effect on this match.

She added: "We were very disappointed on Wednesday but at the same time we were trying to go for gold so none of that mattered really. It was out of my head and we were really focused. We warmed up well and we prepared well but unfortunately it didn't go our way."