I have just watched the live streaming for the semi-final match between Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Lin Dan of China in badminton’s men single. Chong Wei lost the first game but fought back to win the second game brilliantly. His first game is full of many careless mistakes but things turned the other way round in second game. Finally, in the third and deciding game, their result was neck to neck and it made me so nervous and worried. When Chong Wei hits 20-mark while Lin Dan was lagging behind a few points, I already started to celebrate.
However, Lin Dan fought back to win few points and leveled the score to 20-20. I was back to the state of extreme nervous again. Fortunately, Chong Wei impressed by winning the last two crucial points to win the match. A big congratulation to him for defeating Lin Dan this time. Lin Dan had defeated Chong Wei in the final in both Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games. Now, it’s Chong Wei’s turn to take him out, but this time it’s not the final match yet. However, I’m already very happy that he is now only one step away from the coveted Olympic gold medal of which no Malaysian has win before in the history of the Olympics.
(Image above from The Straits Times)
Even if he lost in the final (definitely hope not), he would still be one of the greatest badminton players in the world. Who can be the Olympic silver medalist for three consecutive times? No one accomplish that before. But all our wish is now on him winning the gold medal that would be a perfect gift to end his Olympic run (he won’t be playing for the next Olympics anymore) and also a perfect gift to the whole country, Malaysia. But the country didn’t only rely on him this time, as our men doubles pair, Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Keong will be playing in the final later tonight. This is our another chance to win the gold medal. All our prayers and well wishes for them!
On the other hand, in the mixed double final that took place two days ago, Malaysian pair Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying lost, but had already made us proud. They never expected to reach the final in the first place but they did. The Indonesian pair they dealt with in the final was just too strong. Our Malaysian pair was still impressive and won a silver for Malaysia. To sum it up, this time is already Malaysia’s best ever performance in badminton in Olympic stage. A huge congratulation and thank you to all the Malaysian badminton athletes!
As for the other sports, it is a big letdown from the Malaysian archery team which couldn’t even pass the qualifying round. A good news on top of that is that Azizulhasni Awang managed to win a bronze medal in cycling-keirin event. As for diving of which Malaysia is not bad in (but China always dominated this sport just like badminton), our divers, Pandelela Nirong and Cheong Jun Hoong won silver medal in women’s 10m synchronised platform. Fantastic! However, in individual event, Pandelela Nirong who was bronze medalist in London 2012 in that didn’t manage to perform well this time. But it’s all right. They did their best.
(Image above from Genting Rewards Malaysia)
So right now, Malaysia has 2 silver and 1 bronze which is already the best ever performance the country has in Olympic history. And then there’s still at least two silver (or hopefully two gold) already in the bag for the country. Well, now I’m hoping to be able to listen to our national anthem (Negaraku) later tonight! I will update this post soon with the latest results in badminton involving Malaysia. And again, all the best to our athletes in the finals!
Update – 20 August 2016
Unfortunately, in our men doubles match last night, our Malaysian pair went down, defeated by the China’s pair in three games. We won in the first game, looking very confident, and I’m impressed by huge improvement on the players. However, we lost terribly in second game. Then, came the deciding game. Malaysian pair was behind few points most of the time but they fought back when it was almost the end which gave us back high hope. They secured gold medal points but they missed them out twice. Luck was not on their side and pressure took the toll on them. Hence, they lost 23-21 in the last deciding game, awarding the gold to China. That’s a huge wasted opportunity. We are so near this time. Anyway, still congratulation to them as they fight to their very best despite some major crucial mistakes in the final game. At least, they got a silver.
Well, I couldn’t watch tonight’s match for the men single because I would be in the aeroplane. I sincerely wish all the best to Dato Lee Chong Wei in that final against Chen Long of China as he is our last hope for Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold medal now. Good luck and all the best to him! The whole country will cheer behind him!
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 