Terry Hee and Jessica Tan win Singapore’s first Commonwealth Games badminton mixed doubles gold
Singapore's Terry Hee and Jessica Tan pose with their badminton mixed doubles gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Aug 8, 2022. (Photo: AP/Manish Swarup)
SINGAPORE: Badminton mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan won a historic gold for Singapore on Monday (Aug 8) when they beat England 21-16, 21-15.
It is Singapore's first Commonwealth Games gold in the mixed doubles event, and the first gold in badminton since 2002 when Li Li won the women's singles title.
The husband-and-wife pair were up against home favourites Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith, having reached the final on the back of an upset win against Malaysia’s top-seeded pairing of Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing on Sunday.
After taking the first game on Monday, Hee and Tan, ranked 35th in the world, found themselves 11-12 down in the second before they went on a run of nine consecutive points.
This took them to gold medal point.
Hee and Tan then faltered momentarily as the English pair - ranked 10th in the world - picked up three consecutive points of their own, but the lead proved to be too much to reel in.
Hee finished off the tie with a smash to ensure that he and Tan joined 2002 gold medallist Li Li on the list of Singaporean Commonwealth Games badminton champions.
Hee and Tan's victory was quickly followed by another gold for Singapore in table tennis. Feng Tianwei and Zeng Jian's win in the women's doubles final took the country's haul of gold medals at the games to four.
