Badminton pair blow it

Simon Archer and Jo Goode: Lost after serving for the match

British badminton pair Simon Archer and Jo Goode lost a huge lead and the chance of gold after being just a serve away from the mixed doubles final.

An easy victory seemed certain with the pair leading by 10-1 in the second set after overwhelming their Indonesian opponents, Tri Kusharyato and Timur Minarti, 15-2 in the opener.

In a remarkable turnaround, however, Goode and Archer's nerve crumbled.

They squandered a match point and the top-seeded Indonesians hauled themselves back to win the set 17-15 and the Brits looked demoralised.

Trailing 12-6 in a tense final set strewn with errors, Archer and Goode managed to rally, pulling back to within one point of their opponents before finally surrendering 15-11.

We're hugely disappointed with the result

  Simon Archer

The pair will now play off for the bronze medal on Thursday.

Archer said: "It was there for the taking at 10-1 but we started to get a bit tense and let it get away,"

"We were one serve away from at least a silver medal but as their confidence grew ours sort of withered away.

"Even if we get a bronze it's going to be hard to stand on that podium knowing we should have been in the final.

"We're hugely disappointed with the result and the way it happened but overall it's been a fantastic week for us and for British badminton."

On Thursday they will meet Denmark's Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen, who lost out in three sets to Chinese pair Jun Zhang and Gao Ling.