Badminton: Gold for England: European finals

CHRIS HUNT and Simon Archer, who have been together only for four months as a pair, became unexpected gold medallists when they overcame Andrei Antropov and Nicolai Zuev, the first Russians ever to contest a European final here yesterday, writes James Leigh from 's Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. The fourth- seeded Englishmen won 18-16, 15-4 after conquering their nerves, which were twitchily visible in the first game.

This threatened to disrupt Hunt and Archer's aggressive game and it saw them slip from 12-8 to a deficit of 15-16 in the first game.

At that point Zuev served into the net, and the English pair snatched the chance. After taking the first game they raced to a 10-0 lead in the second.

Hunt and Archer had an even harder semi-final, which they won 15-12 in the final game against the Danes, Christian Jacobsen and Jens Eriksen, on Saturday. On the same day Gill Clark and Julie Bradbury, who won a bronze medal, came within two points of beating the defending champions, Christine Magnusson and Lim Xiaoqing, who went on to retain the women's doubles.

There was also a bronze medal for England's unseeded No 2, Anders Nielsen, after he had lost 17-14, 15-6 to Sweden's Tomas Johansson on Saturday.

Results, Sporting Digest, page 31