Bowls silver medal bittersweet for Mervyn King

King won the 2006 world indoor title

Fakenham's Mervyn King has been left with mixed emotions after letting a lawn bowls gold medal slip through his fingers in Delhi.

King, 44, and England partner Stuart Airey had to settle for silver as they were outdone by the South Africans.

King told BBC Sport: "We've played 14 games in this, it's been a long slog. It's been hard, hot, and difficult.

"I've come away with a silver medal, I'm delighted but obviously disappointed at the same time."

The English pair looked like they would comfortably take the game into a tie-break when leading 13-4 in the second set.

But South Africa's Shaun Addinall and Gerry Baker staged a remarkable turnaround to level the set in the final end and claim the gold medal with a 8-7 13-13 victory.

If somebody said 'you're going to win a silver medal' before I came I would have took it and wouldn't have bothered coming

Mervyn King

"At the end of the day we played a bad end," said King.

"Gerry played a great bowl at the end to do it but we should not have left him in that position."

Delhi has been King's third consecutive Commonwealth Games after competing in Manchester and Melbourne, but insists the prize of a silver medal is still something special.

"It's obviously disappointing to lose after being six up in the last end," he added.

"We could have played three ends, a tie break and lost to them anyway.

"But if somebody said 'you're going to win a silver medal' before I came I would have took it and wouldn't have bothered coming."