Gold for Jamaica's Lewis and Palmer

MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico (CMC): Alya Lewis and Garron Palmer won the mixed doubles badminton final here Friday, claiming gold in an all-Jamaican final.

Playing at the Raymond Dalmau Coliseum, Lewis and Palmer posted a comfortable 21-14, 21-15 win over their countrymen Gareth Henry and Kristal Karjohn to seal a successful run in the campaign.

Earlier on Thursday night, Henry and Palmer took bronze when they lost the men's doubles semi-final 12-21, 17-21 to the Guatemalan pair of Rodolfo Ramirez and Kevin Cordon.

Henry also took bronze in the men's singles semi-final, after losing to Cordon 7-21, 11-21.

Lewis and Palmer, however, were impressive in Friday's final as they seized the initiative from early, before pressing home the advantage.

They rushed to a 7-2 lead in the first game before Henry and Karjohn found their footing to close the gap at 11-12.

Lewis and Palmer responded with a 4-0 run to lead to 16-11 and held their nerve down the stretch to close out the game smartly.

The champs trailed 4-7 early in the second game as Henry and Karjohn started strongly. Down 10-11, Lewis and Palmer sparked a familiar run, reeling off five unanswered points to lead 15-11.

Henry and Karjohn tried to hit back but Lewis and Palmer never relinquished their lead and came out strong winners.