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

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 medal, recovered from a nightmare start to beat Malaysians Chew Choon Eng and Chin Eei Hui 0-7 7-5 7-3 7-3.

The Malaysians steamrollered into the lead in just two minutes and 16 seconds and Goode admitted: "It really felt like we were still in bed."

Archer said the recent painful memories had only served to inspire him and Commonwealth gold was a just reward for his sterling efforts.

He said: "We've been through a hell of a lot over the past year and we wanted to prove we could come back.

"Jo took time out to have her second child and I struggled with an injury which would have forced a lot of other players to retire.

"We weren't at our best today but we supported each other well and cut out the sloppy errors and it's great to be a champion again."

England's Tracey Hallam narrowly failed to claim individual gold in the women's singles final.

The Burton girl improved on the bronze she had won in Kuala Lumpur four years ago but still had to settle for silver after a four-set defeat by Singapore's Li Li.

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

Hallam 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 goes away I'm sure I'll be happy with silver."