By Jon Wilde, PA Sport

England's Peter Nicol atoned for the loss of his Commonwealth Games squash singles title by striking gold in the doubles and insisted: "This makes up for it completely."

The world number one partnered Lee Beachill to a 15-11 15-12 victory over Stewart Boswell and Anthony Ricketts of Australia which gave England their only squash gold medal in Manchester.

Hopes were high that Cassie Jackman and Tania Bailey could emulate their male team-mates but they lost 15-11 5-15 15-13 to New Zealand's Carol Owens and Leilani Rorani in the women's doubles final and bagged silver.

That result meant Rorani, who was competing in her first tournament since rupturing her Achilles tendon last December, remarkably became the only player to collect two gold medals.

She had earlier claimed the mixed title with Glen Wilson, the Kiwi pair beating Beng Hee Ong and Nicol David of Malaysia 15-11 15-9.

Rorani's joy was matched by that of Nicol, who had been desperate to make amends for relinquishing the individual title he won in Kuala Lumpur four years ago to Jonathon Power of Canada on Wednesday.

He and Beachill, who has fought back from three career-threatening injury and illness problems, were involved in a closely-fought battle in which the England duo only took control of each game in the later stages.

There were rarely more than two points between the teams but England had four match balls at 14-10 in the second game only for the Australians to save the first two.

But then Ricketts mistimed a return and the ball dropped to the floor, prompting exuberant celebrations from Nicol and Beachill.

"This is absolutely fantastic," said 29-year-old Nicol, whose singles gold in Kuala Lumpur four years ago came in Scotland colours before his controversial change of nationality.

"I was determined not to leave here without a gold medal. I felt I let the team down in the individual final but this makes up for it completely.

"I'm delighted but exhausted. It's been a long 10 or 15 days since we first met up at our training camp in Birmingham and has been a mental battle from start to finish."

Beachill, from Pontefract, was told he would never walk again after breaking his back in four places in a car crash but incredibly was playing squash again three months later.

He insisted the match had been played in a better spirit than Saturday's semi-final against the other Australians, David Palmer and Paul Price, which ended with the teams having to be separated.

"There was a bit of rivalry but nothing malicious," said the 24-year-old, who has also overcome having a foot crushed in a go-karting accident and a bout of Salmonella poisoning.

But Ricketts, who constantly opened the door of the court to question decisions made by referee Chas Evans, claimed it was not all sweetness and light.

"I think you could tell there was a bit of animosity out there," said Ricketts. "But this game didn't go to push and shove."

England's hopes of double gold were dashed when Jackman, defending the title she captured with Sue Wright in 1998, and Bailey surrendered a winning position against Owens and Rorani.

Prospects were bright for the English pair when they led 10-6 in the decider with Rorani, playing her second match of the day, looking as though she was starting to tire.

But the Kiwis dug in and fought their way back, with Jackman hitting the final shot of the tournament into the tin.

"I'm disappointed to have lost out on the gold twice now," said Jackman, also a bronze medallist in the singles. "But I will take away some great memories."

Bailey added: "We did what we could and I can't fault the way we played. They just got the better shots at the right time to win."

Rorani revealed she nearly did not make the trip to Manchester and said: "It's so awesome. A couple of months ago I didn't think it was any good coming over here. I really didn't want to, but the team has been just awesome."