Mixed doubles final

Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg won the mixed doubles title at the European Championships in Herning this afternoon - and eased Kellogg's disappointment at losing her women's doubles crown.

The second seeds avenged Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms' semi-final defeat by Polish fourth seeds Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk by winning 16-21 22-20 21-15.

But they did it the hard way, having to pull victory from the jaws of defeat after trailing 19-16 in the second game.

The England pair were nowhere near their best in the first two games but in the third game they found their range and played with the tenacity and determination their fans have come to expect from them.

It meant England, who won the team silver medal behind Denmark at the start of the week, picked up gold and bronze in the mixed doubles and silver in the women's doubles.

A relieved Kellogg said: "I didn't want to go home with three silver medals. I'm so relieved.

"We've had eight days of continuous play here and that's made it tough. But our determination got us through. This is certainly something we can look back on with satisfaction."

Clark said: "We didn't play well in the first two sets. That was so frustrating because we know just what we can do. Yes, I've been ill recently but I'm not going to start using that as an excuse.

"But at 19-16 down in the second we knew we had to dig deep. It was just back to that 'balls of steel' that we have had to show so many times and that we say to each other when we are in trouble.

"This is so satisfying because of everything that goes into it - the training, the hard work. We knew our season needed a lift and that came with winning the Nationals again. Now we've won our first European title." The pair had won bronze at the 2006 Europeans.

Women's doubles final

Top seeds Gail Emms and Donna Kellogg lost to second seeds Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Lena Frier Kristiansen 21-18 21-18 in the women's doubles - the first final of the afternoon in Herning.

The defending champions got off to a flying start and led 6-0 before the Danes launched a fightback to snatch victory in a tight match.

There was rarely more than a point between the pairs in the second game but the Danes edged ahead late on and clinched it on their first match point to deny Kellogg a third women's title.

Emms said: "I have been playing some brilliant badminton this week but they played better today. I would love to have won two titles here but it was not to be. You have to take the losses with the wins.

"I have two weeks off now and I am going on holiday. I'm having 10 days in Goa."

FINAL RESULTS

Women’s doubles: (2) Kamilla Rytter Juhl & Lena Frier Kristiansen (Den) bt (1) Gail Emms & Donna Kellogg (Eng) 21-18 21-18

Men’s singles: (1) Kenneth Jonassen (Den) bt (4) Joachim Persson (Den) 21-13 21-16

Women's Singles: (3) Xu Huaiwen (Ger) bt (2) Tine Rasmussen (Den) 12-21 21-12 21-17

Mixed Doubles: (2) Anthony Clark & Donna Kellogg (Eng) bt (4) Robert Mateusiak & Nadiezda Kostiuczyk (Pol) 16-21 22-20 21-16 21-15

Men’s Doubles: (1) Lars Paaske & Jonas Rasmussen (Den) bt (2) Jens Eriksen & Martin Lundgaard Hansen (Den) 21-19 21-16

England’s Medal Winners

Team – Silver

Women’s doubles: Gail Emms & Donna Kellogg – silver

Mixed doubles: Anthony Clark & Donna Kellogg – gold

Nathan Robertson & Gail Emms – bronze