Zharnel Hughes put a season disrupted by injury and a cramp-hit Commonwealth Games behind him to win 200m silver in front of a sold-out home crowd, as Germany's Owen Ansah won his second sprints medal of the week with victory in 19.95.

Zharnel Hughes added a European 200m silver medal to his collection on an eventful Friday night at the Alexander Stadium, digging deep through the physical and mental toll of a difficult season to give the home crowd something to roar about even as gold went the way of Germany's Owen Ansah.

Hughes ran 20.16, enjoying a small lead into the home straight before Ansah simply had too much in the closing stages, the German powering clear over the final metres to win in 19.95 – a time quick enough to have made him the first German man under 20 seconds, had it not come with a following wind of 2.5m/sec that ruled it out as a national record.

For Hughes, silver represented a triumph over adversity as much as a result on the track. "I have had a very up and down season," he said. "I have had very issues with my body which means I have had to make some adaptions throughout the season.

"But I dug deep, refocused and knew I really wanted to come here and make a good effort, which was hard as I was exhausted mentally more than physically. I have to keep believing in myself and that is what I did."

Once the race itself got under way, though, Hughes looked anything but troubled around the bend. "Today's race was a good one," he said. "I felt good and came round the bend with so much speed I thought I was out of control. I did my best to navigate it as best as I could and control the lactic. But suddenly Ansah was away from me 20 metres from the end. It sucks but I gave my all."

He was left with mixed but largely positive emotions: "I am pleased to add silver to my European collection and I am here to get more. I am looking forward to joining the guys now and focusing for the relay."

Ansah's victory capped a remarkable week for the 25-year-old from Hamburg, who arrived at these championships as German record-holder over 100m but with some uncertainty over 200m. Those doubts were emphatically answered. Having already taken 100m bronze earlier in the championships behind Brits Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu – Germany's first medal over that distance at a European Championships in 40 years – he added the 200m title in style on Friday night.

"I hope everyone will know my name now," Ansah said. "This was the goal – to leave the Europeans with two medals, a bronze and gold is amazing for me."

He revealed the scale of the occasion had spurred him on rather than intimidated him. "The stadium is crazy today. Before the race, I was told that the stadium was sold out and I wanted to give Birmingham a show. I did it."

As for his long-term event, he was unequivocal: "The 100m bronze was just a warm up for me. The 200m was always the main goal. My coach always told me I am a 200m sprinter. Today I finally believed it."

Ansah's rise to the top of European sprinting this week has, it should be noted, played out against the backdrop of an unresolved case with the German anti-doping authorities relating to a missed test in July, which he disputes and has not accepted; no rule violation has been confirmed, and the matter remains ongoing.

Behind the top two, Italy's Eseosa Fostine Desalu and Switzerland's Timothé Mumenthaler could not be separated for bronze, both given 20.26 after a photo finish.

Latvia's Oskars Grava was fifth in 20.28, with Portugal's Delvis Santos, Italy's Filippo Dezza and Switzerland's William Reais completing the field.