Malaysia in golden hat-trick
Malaysia ended the Commonwealth Games badminton tournament with a golden treble on Sunday.
In the men's singles, Muhammed Hafiz Hashim beat team mate Tseung Seng Lee in a tense five-set thriller 7-3, 7-1, 3-7, 7-8, 7-4.
World number two ranked pair of Chong Ming Chan and Choon Eng Chew fought back to edge out compatriots Kim Wai Chang and Tan Fook Choong 7-5, 4-7, 2-7, 7-5, 7-3, to win the men's doubles.
Li Peng Ang and Pek Siah Lim then completed the golden hat-trick for the Malaysians, beating New Zealand's Nicole Gordon and Sara Runesten-Petersen 7-8, 7-4, 2-7, 7-5, 7-0, in the women's doubles in yet another five-set affair.
Sunday's medal haul took the South-East Asian country's tally in the badminton tournament to nine.
Singapore's Li Li broke the mould to beat local favourite Tracey Hallam 7-5, 5-7, 8-7, 7-0, in the women's singles.
But the boisterous crowd received some solace when England's Simon Archer and Jo Goode retained their mixed-doubles title, overcoming Malaysia's Choon Eng Chew and Eei Hui Chin 0-7, 7-5, 7-3, 7-3.
In the men's singles, Hashim took an early two-set lead against his second-seeded countryman, but the left-hander fought back to send it into a deciding set when Hashim's kill went wide.
However, fatigue got the better of Lee who made unforced errors, handing the gold medal to his 19-year-old opponent, who lay on his back and punched his fists in the air at the moment of victory.
"I feel so happy. This is my first time at the Commonwealth Games," said Hashim who beat world number two Choong Hann Wong in the semi-finals.
In the women's final, Hallam, the bronze medallist at Kuala Lumpur in 1998, had the chance to take a 2-1 lead but her cross-court clearing shot at 7-7 went long and the set was lost. Li then ran away with the final set 7-0 to give Singapore a gold medal to go with an earlier team silver.
"There will be a big celebration in Singapore now we have a gold medal," Li said. "I never thought I would win gold but I felt I had nothing to lose."
In the mixed, Archer and Goode, the Olympic bronze medallists and defending Commonwealth champions, beat Malaysia's Choon Eng Chew and Eei Hui Chin in a tough four-set clash.
The English pair, tired after a lengthy semi-final on Saturday, dropped the first 7-0 but fought back well to clinch gold.
"It's fantastic," Archer said. "We hammered everyone at Kuala Lumpur, but the expectation of the home crowd made it hard for us. It means so much to win in front of our home crowd."
England won the mixed team title earlier in the tournament.
