Chris Adcock paid tribute to wife Gabby as she battled through the pain to defend their Commonwealth Games badminton mixed doubles title.

The European champions and world bronze medallists exited the recent Yonex All England Championships at the last eight stage for the first time in 2015.

And Gabby has spent the season battling a troublesome ankle injury.

But they won a high-quality final against English team-mates Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith, taking the gold with 21-19, 17-21, 21-16 scoreline.

"Gabby has been out for pretty much the whole year,” said Chris.

“She hasn't had two consecutive weeks training the whole year, so to come back and do this is, it is hard to put words.

"We played the All England Open the week before we came here to get us into form and then Gabby had to have another week off because she hurt herself again.

“We’ve had literally one week of training so it's very special. Standing on the podium, with the England flag going up is an unbelievable feeling. But doing it with your wife is something I can't even explain."

Gabby, who picked up her injury playing in the Indian Premier League in January, admitted she was far from her best but claimed heart and determination dragged her through.

Focus will now switch to getting back to fitness ahead of the World Championships in Nanjing this summer.

"Firstly, I was just so happy I could play after the time I’ve had,” she said

"I can't thank Chris enough. He's been amazing support throughout the year. When I haven't been on court, he's pretty much been playing singles for the last three months.

"I like to come into tournaments feeling prepared, so this has exceeded my expectations."

The Adcocks played near the perfect game to close in on victory but their rivals, trailing 12-3, rallied to make the scoreline closer.

“I think they came out with nothing to lose and we started to get a little bit tense,” added Chris.

“They are great players, they have shown that and we needed to stay switched on until the end.”

Meanwhile, Ellis and Chris Langridge added Commonwealth Games gold to their Olympic bronze.

While the remaining silver came from Smith and Sarah Walker in the women’s doubles as England ended the Gold Coast games with a total of six medals – including the men's singles bronze won by Rajiv Ouseph.

And after not reaching the top step of the podium at Glasgow 2014, Langridge was relieved to have reached it this time.

"I have been waiting for this one because the last Games I didn't manage to get a gold," he said.

"That was my main objective when I came here, to try and complete the set."

While Ellis, on his debut Commonwealth Games, has also won the full set, after also helping England to team bronze.

"It would have been completely disheartening if I had gone home without a gold. I've got a full set now," he said.

"We've played great in patches this tournament. Overall, we did deserve to win."

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