Commonwealth Games / Badminton: Clark bows out in record style: England finish with eight badminton medals

ENGLAND'S badminton team completed a haul of eight medals with two golds and three silvers. One of each colour went to Gill Clark, who afterwards announced her retirement. She has a record 12 Commonwealth medals from four Games, 33 grand prix titles, and a week ago equalled the record of 143 England caps. Clark would also have equalled the record for any woman in any sport of seven Commonwealth gold medals had she not unexpectedly lost the women's doubles final on Saturday.

For this she and Julie Bradbury had been top seeds, but were beaten 15-9, 15-11 by the surprisingly effective makeshift partnership of Joanne Wright and Joanne Muggeridge. Muggeridge is better known as a singles player. But for the quota which prevented England bringing Gillian Gowers these two would not have been playing together.

However, Wright was excellent and Clark rather ponderous. Yet only two hours before Clark had been superb, showing remarkable reflexes while defending against the man's smashes as she and Chris Hunt won the mixed doubles final 15-11 15-4 against Bradbury and Simon Archer. 'I think physically I could go on longer, but mentally I have had enough,' Clark said. 'I am mentally tired. I have problems motivating myself.'

Bradbury thus lost two finals, though she did not deserve to. Archer also lost two but is improving fast enough to be able to make amends before long. He and Hunt launched some rousing attacks at the top-seeded World Cup winners from Malaysia, Cheah Soon Kit and Soo Beng Kiang, before losing 15-10, 15-9 in the men's doubles.

Malaysia also won the men's singles when the defending champion, Rashid Sidek, overcame his compatriot Ong Ewe Hock 15-6

15-4. An unseeded player won a Commonwealth singles title for the first time when Lisa Campbell beat the China-born Canadian Si- an Deng 11-2 11-5. Sidney 2000 has not only helped improve the funding but already the standard of the Australians, who won five medals.

Peter Richardson, the captain of the England boxing team, won the light-welterweight gold medal less than a year after sustaining an injury outside the ring that had threatened to end his career in international competition. Neil Sinclair (welterweight) and Jim Webb (light-middleweight) won golds for Northern Ireland, Paul Shepherd (flyweight) for Scotland.

Richard Corsie, of Scotland, and Margaret Johnston, of Northern Ireland, won the bowls singles. Corsie beat England's Tony Allcock 25-20 while Johnston defeated Rita Jones, of Wales, 25-20 to recapture the women's title she first won in Edinburgh in 1986.

Bradford's Yvonne McGregor, hospitalised earlier in the Games after collapsing with breathing problems during a road race, took the gold in the 25km road race. McGregor won a bronze in the team time trial after falling off her bike.

Linford Christie lost to his American 100 metres rival Jon Drummond at an IAAF meeting in Rieti, Italy, clocking 10.06sec to Drummond's 9.99. Colin Jackson won the 110m hurdles.