Thank you, Lee Chong Wei!

Lee Chong Wei; a name that no Malaysians will not know and a name that has made a huge impact to the badminton world for over 19 years. A three-time Olympic silver medalist, Datuk Lee Chong Wei is truly a badminton legend and an inspiring Malaysian hero!

After diagnosed with nose cancer since last year, he has no choice but to stop his badminton career to focus on the cancer treatment at Taiwan ever since. The news shocked the whole Malaysia and we pray nothing but the best of health for this man. After confirmation of his recovery, he returned to the court but has been advised of not to undergo anymore intense training to avoid the relapse of cancer. Today, he decided to retire officially and we wish him all the best!

His achievement is nothing short of breathtaking. Although he has failed in three past attempts to win Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold medal, but he never gives up. Winning 3 Olympic silver medals in a row, he is the most successful Olympian in Malaysian history. Although always losing in several crucial final matches (I always find that luck is always not on his side), but he is the one that unite all Malaysians through sport. People of all races gather together at mamak stall in the evening to catch his action live on huge television. Crowd cheering when he win points or hearing your neighbours scream when he won are some of the memories I had in the past (I’m sure you experienced those time too). Only Lee Chong Wei has the ability to do that.

He do wish to compete in next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (will be his fourth attempt) but health shall comes first nevertheless. It’s okay, Chong Wei! You have tried your best and you have already made Malaysians proud! You have done enough and it’s best for you now to spend more quality time with your family and friends.

His achievement is not just limited to the Olympics. He has won a total of 69 badminton titles including a record-breaking 12 wins at the Malaysian Open. He is also a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, and a four-time All England champion. He is also the king of BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Superseries with 47 titles. He held on to the position as world no.1 men single player for 6 years consecutively (from 2008 to 2013). Impressive, isn’t it? His career is so amazing that it has even been turned into an autobiography (book titled ‘Dare to be a Champion’) and a 2018 movie with his name as the movie’s title.

Thank you, Datuk Lee Chong Wei for all the contribution, inspiration and great memories you have given to us. Your superb plays on the badminton court in the past will be missed! It’s time now for the youngsters to step up the game to be back at the world stage in badminton.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

 

Malaysia has its best ever performance in Rio 2016 even before the games ends this weekend

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!

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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!

 

Lee Chong Wei lost again in BWF World Badminton Championship’s Final

It has been a busy weekend for me and things didn’t turn out that well as expected. Yesterday, I went to the ARCHIDEX 2015 on its last day of exhibition. This year, I collected very little brochures, bags, and only a single pen. It’s so different to the last few visits to this annual architectural exhibition of which I can have many useful complimentary stuff. On the other hand, I watched two new movies (reviews in my previous post) and they are bad and poorly made. This weekend, I have to spend time working on renovation drawings for my cousin’s shop. That’s a part-time job for me but there is some problem with the 3D modelling and rendering that wasted much of my time which is supposed to be used for other things.

Well, negative feeling isn’t over yet as I watched the final men singles match of this year’s World Badminton Championship just now and Lee Chong Wei lost again. A repeating heartbreak to all Malaysians. He lost to the same guy last year. Who is he? Lin Dan? Nope. It’s Chen Long, the new rising superpower from China. Lin Dan is surprisingly knocked out by Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen in semi-final, hence making the path slightly easier for Chong Wei. However, his last year’s opponent do managed to climb to the final spot with him, and finally defeated him again to take the championship.

Chen Long is fantastic on all his attack and defense skills on court. He is energetic (well, he is still young, only in mid 20s) and he is able to control the court easily with little mistakes. On the other hand, Lee Chong Wei seems to be exhausted despite already minimal running around the court. His age puts him down. He is already 33. He couldn’t catch up to the pace and strength from Chen Long whom is now famously known as the next Lin Dan. I pitied Chong Wei. He had won many smaller badminton tournaments but seldom wins the big ones. In fact, he had never win Asian Games gold, Olympics gold, or this World Badminton Championship. I guess he has really no luck on his side in major championships.

Well, he had to stick to his first runner-up position again in the just concluded match against Chen Long. Forever No.2 placing most of the time. He lost in two straight games, 21-14 and 21-17. Well, he is at least better than all the other Malaysian players who lost out in earlier matches of the championship. The current situation looks horrifying for Malaysia with no steady and excellent talents coming out. We have only Lee Chong Wei for all these years and he is definitely going to retire soon (most probably next year after Rio 2016 Olympics that will give him final chance for an Olympic gold medal after only winning two silvers in the past). Even, I think the chance for an Olympic gold medal from him next year is quite slim with Chen Long on his fantastic form in recent years.

Last time, we had Lin Dan who blocked the way for Chong Wei. Now, Lin Dan seems to be out of sight sometimes and things may be in favor for Chong Wei. However, now China has Chen Long to bank on. Arrggh…that’s bad and sad. But we knew Chong Wei did his very best all the time and he is still our Number 1 (despite everyone agreed that he is actually world number two in terms of achievement and performances in this sport).

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

The 4 Kings of Badminton.

Badminton has been one of my favourite sports. I seldom play badminton but I love to watch badminton tournaments. There has been quite a lot of talks on this particular sport this month. The first is when Lee Chong Wei can get back to play in badminton tournaments beginning this month after he is banned for eight months from his doping case last year. Next was the prestigious Sudirman Cup 2015, a mixed team championship held this month too and won by the reigning champion and host nation, China as expected. And then, recently, YONEX organized a friendly exhibition match in China and invited the 4 great kings of badminton.

Who are the 4 kings of badminton? They must possess impressive records in the sport, well known, have held world number one ranked player and considered as icon of badminton respectively. They are Lin Dan of China, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Peter Gade of Denmark. 4 men, 4 different countries, and they ruled the sport respectively (in men single event) from 2000s.

Lin Dan (China)

– Age 32 this year.

– Two-time Olympic champion (gold-medalist), five-time World champion, and five-time All England champion.

– By age of 28, he had won all nine major titles in badminton world; Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup (no more now), Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games and Asian Championships, becoming the first and only player in history to achieve that.

– 57 career titles to date.

– Currently in semi-retired position.

Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia)

– Age 33 this year.

– Ranked first worldwide in men-single badminton player for the longest, for 298 weeks. Have been ranked first worldwide for a consecutive 199 weeks.

– Two-time Olympic silver-medalist, currently the most successful Malaysian Olympian in history, and earned him the title of Dato’. Also two-time Commonwealth Games gold-medalist. Won Malaysian Open for a record 10 times.

– 55 career titles to date.

– Currently still actively playing in tournaments.

Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia)

– Age 34 this year.

– Olympic champion (gold medalist), also champion in World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games, South East Asian Games, and Thomas Cup.

– Won Indonesian Open for a record 6 times.

– Over 27 career titles to date.

– Currently retired.

Peter Gade (Denmark)

– Age 39 this year.

– 5-time winner of European Championships, All England champion, World GrandPrix champion.

– Over 40 career titles to date.

– Currently retired.

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Out of the 4 great men in badminton, Lin Dan is no doubt the most successful in the history of badminton. Nicknamed ‘Super Dan’, he is simply unbeatable in most of the major tournaments he participated in. No one can challenge his record. Also let us not forget the mighty presence of Lee Chong Wei. Despite not winning all the major titles, but his very active participation in almost all the badminton championships available and winning many of them helped him become the longest number one player in history. Taufik Hidayat and Peter Gade are also awesome in this particular sport.

Right now, the number one player (in men single) is Chen Long from China. He is one strong badminton player to fear for right now.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Lee Chong Wei; no fate to world’s badminton title once again.

Ahh….I was on my flight back to KL from Cambodia when the men single match of Guangzhou 2013 World Badminton Championship was taking place yesterday. And so unfortunately, I missed the showdown between Lin Dan from China and Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia, whom are both no doubt the strongest men single badminton players of current era. All Malaysians are throwing their immense support to Chong Wei, hoping for his first ever victory in world title. Once I settled down, I immediately checked my phone for the result, and I was disappointed once again.

(Image source: http://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/Images/TSOL/Photos-Gallery/Nation/2013/08/11/combo.ashx?w=620&h=413&crop=1&)

Lin Dan won the match, claiming his fifth ever world title which is an achievement no other players have attempted before in the history of the sports. Due to his inactive participation in recent tournaments that led to his world ranking dropped out of the minimum requirement (he is now ranked 286), he managed to get himself a controversial ‘wildcard’ ticket to enter the championship this year due to the advantage of the competition this year being held in China, his home ground. Well, that granted world badminton fans a chance to witness excellent performance in the men single match to battle all out with Chong Wei.

(Image source: http://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/Images/TSOL/Photos-Gallery/Nation/2013/08/11/combo.ashx?w=620&h=413&crop=1&)

It’s really sad and pity that Chong Wei lost to Lin Dan once again after many attempts in previous years. Yes, again for many times, especially in major tournaments where Lin Dan will only participate in. No matter how many small tournaments Chong Wei had won that secured his world ranking as world number one player, he still couldn’t manage to get on top of his career when Lin Dan is in the picture. Everyone knew he tried his best and I truly appreciate what he had done for making Malaysia proud this far. He won the first game, but eventually losing out the second and finally retiring after cramp injury when the rubber game is nearing its end (when Lin Dan definitely leading by several points). He was then immediately brought to the hospital. Chong Wei seriously has no fate to major titles like Olympics gold, and this world championship.

News reported that the sudden turning off of the air-conditioning in the stadium might have affected his performance and left him in hot atmosphere and difficulty in breathing especially during such intense play that took over 1 hour 30 minutes. Cramp injury on his leg eventually left him with no choice but to withdraw. Anyway, both still delivered astonishing sportsmanship after the tough and tiring day. Congratulations to Lin Dan! You have proven again that you are still strong despite not playing for quite some time. And a big thank you to Lee Chong Wei for have bringing the best from you despite losing. Losing is part of success. Get enough rest, spend time with family, then go for training back again, and prepare to be much stronger on future world championships and Rio 2016 Olympic Games! All the best!

Hong Kong Open 2012: Malaysia in two finals, but lost out both to China.

Lee Chong Wei is back in action after his wedding with Wong Mew Choo early this month. Hong Kong Open 2012 is his first outing after getting a long break in preparation for his wedding, and he haven’t even had the time for honeymoon with his newly-wed wife. Perhaps he is already absent from training for quite some time, and hence his performance dropped slightly as seen from his game in the final match against Chen Long just now at the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2012 that concluded few hours ago.

 

(Image source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pc-NzL222zc/UK8ejTWUmKI/AAAAAAAACPU/vId2GeGZ4vs/s1600/banner+logo+badminton+hong+kong+open+2012.jpg)

And so, he lost out unexpectedly to Chen Long in two straight games. I have watched a bit of the match and it’ quite a neck-to-neck game but luck seems to go on Chen Long’s side. In previous meetings, Lee Chong Wei won the most. But on this meeting, he lost it, and that made Chen Long to became so joyous and happy to have defeated the current world ranked number one men single player. There is a saying that once a badminton player gets married, his quality of play would drop as time goes. One of the best examples for that would be Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia. He had won Athens 2004 Olympic Games, but after he got married, he is not much seen again in finals of many tournaments due to poor performance. So, it seems to be the same pattern to Chong Wei for now.

Or maybe it’s not. Let’s hope it’s not so that Malaysia still stands a chance for a gold medal in men single badminton in future Asian Games or Olympic Games. Lee Chong Wei has to get back on ground for intensive training so that his solid performance returns. It is quite unlikely that Chen Long can beat him, and he had done it today, and so there must be something wrong on Malaysian side. Congratulation to Chen Long. He seems to perform better and better in tournaments, and he is seen as a great replacement to China once Lin Dan retired. But wait, where is Lin Dan on this championship? Perhaps he is still enjoying married life as he was also just getting married few months ago.

Okay, fine…Chong Wei lost the final this time. We still have the men doubles from Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong. But who are their opponents? Ahh! China again, by Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. Another very strong opponent, which I already expected that it must be a tough match for this Malaysian pair whom have not won any title for such a long time already. Pity them. Their performance just went downhill in recent years and it’s so disappointing. Their superb style of play back in 2006-2008 just gone, and no where to be found! As predicted, they lost out to the much better China’s team in two straight games as well. They did take lead in middle of games but still gets defeated in the end. Anyway, without the presence of Malaysia’s team, it would be all China vs. China in all the five finals today at Hong Kong Open 2012. That would be quite boring. But now the result seems to make not much difference, as China won all the five finals, which again indicating their supremacy over this sport.

Wedding of the year: Lee Chong Wei with Wong Mew Choo on 9th and 10th November 2012

Lee Chong Wei, the world number one men single badminton player and national icon was finally tying the knot with his girlfriend, Wong Mew Choo early this month. A big congratulation to both of them! Lee Chong Wei first announced few months earlier that he had planned to marry soon probably by next year. However, the wedding is brought earlier as one of Wong Mew Choo’s relatives had passed away recently and she had to marry within 100 days or wait three more years. Not to waste anymore time while not breaking the Chinese tradition, both of them then decided to tie the knot in November.

 

(Image source: http://www.alifebe.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Dato-Lee-Chong-Wei4.jpg)

They first met in 2001 when they were not popular and only perform as the back up national badminton team. Then, Lee Chong Wei rise to occasion after winning multiple titles and then ranked world number one player. Mew Choo on the other hand, manage to perform quite well too, particularly winning the China Open in a year. Then, she retired from badminton, but still remains by the side of Lee Chong Wei, giving him support no matter where he is competing at. Both of them had gone through a long 11 years in ups and downs, with even report of them breaking up in 2009. But fate reunited them together, and the bond between them grew stronger ever since then.

Lee Chong Wei reached 30 years of age and it’s certainly time for him to start his own family after enjoying many years of success in badminton. However, he will not stop on his career, but would continue on his pursuit for more titles, particularly eyeing on World Championships, Asian Games, and Olympic Games that he had never won before. It is reported that he will be back on court on upcoming Hong Kong Open and Macau Open in the end of this month. Hence, he mentioned that he would spend his honeymoon with his newly wed wife later.

The wedding of the year, is held in two days on November 9th and 10th, 2012. The wedding is of course organized in a very grand and spectacular scale as Chong Wei is the national icon and the two-days events would also be broadcast live to all Malaysians who are excited to watch a bit of their wedding despite not included in guest list. The first day of wedding dinner at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre saw the presence of the King and Queen, the Prime Minister and his deputy, as well as many other officials, ministers and corporates. Wow…so you see how high profile Chong Wei is. Today’s dinner which is at the same venue, would then be dedicated to the family members, relatives and close friends.

 

(Image source: http://www.miricitysharing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Lee-Chong-Wei-Wedding-Photo-set-1.jpg)

Earlier, both of them have taken lovely wedding images at Sepang Gold Coast Golden Palm Tree Resort. And this is my first time seeing pictures of Chong Wei in formal attire and he certainly looks good on it. On the other hand, Mew Choo looks impressive with her gown on and the picturesque background certainly enhances the images. Anyway, congratulation again to Lee Chong Wei and Wong Mew Choo on their marriage. Their wedding is no doubt the nation’s wedding of the year.

A tough and challenging win at Denmark Open 2012 turned out to be a great birthday gift for Chong Wei

What? The national TV station is not airing the final matches of Denmark Open 2012 that features Lee Chong Wei in men single and Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in men doubles? This is quite unbelievable. Usually, whenever there is Malaysian(s) involved in the final of a badminton tournament, it would be broadcast out free to all and not only from Astro. This is quite frustrating as I would not have the opportunity to watch it then. Only those paid for Astro get to watch it…my father previously did subscribe to Sports package of Astro but then drop it off due to the unreasonable cost. Well, I have to agree to that point of escalating cost imposed to Astro subscribers nowadays.

 

(Image above is fromhttp://www.badmintonmalta.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-Yonex-Denmark-Open-620×397.jpg)

I was ready on my seat in front of TV but it is not airing the matches out. What the…So, I just went back to my room, turned on the visual live score of the tournament and check out instant result from the on-going matches. First of all, it is quite unbelievable that Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong could make it to the final this time after showing very poor performance in recent years. They had not win any tournaments at all lately and this marks their downfall. They appears to have much lower or slighter chance of winning any more future tournaments looking from their form now. So, it’s already considered very lucky for them to have successfully entered into the final. I forgot who they deal with, but in the end, they lost. Hmm..I don’t have much high expectation from them already, so their defeat is nothing much of a surprise for me.

Then, came Malaysia’s biggest hope, from Lee Chong Wei in men single up against China’s rising new star in badminton, Du Pengyu. I was quite nervous over the result of their games as both of them came very close together in getting points. Wow…it seems that Chong Wei isn’t on his very top form from that final as it appears very hard and challenging for him to only defeat a considered junior player from China. In the end, Chong Wei still won the championship but this one isn’t easy for him apparently. Du Pengyu gave him a very serious competition but luckily, it’s still Chong Wei that prevails in the court.

It’s a close and tight game. The three games must be very exciting and intense one as both players gave good fight with Du Pengyu giving much improved performance while Chong Wei in not so steady form but still performed professionally. Too bad, I didn’t get to watch it. How come it’s not shown in TV?! So sad…anyway, a big congratulation to Chong Wei for winning the championship, adding another title for him which turned out to be a great birthday present for him as his 30th birthday falls on that day exactly. And one more happy thing for him would be his upcoming marriage with Wong Mew Choo next month. He must have been busy preparing for his marriage and tiring after frequent appearances in several tournaments right after the London 2012 Olympics. It’s time for him to get a rest, start his own family, before going all out again on his mission in badminton!

Something on badminton today; Final of Japan Open 2012 and badminton superstar, Lin Dan gets married

Badminton has always been my favourite sport eventhough I have not play the sport for such a long time. It is also the only sport in Olympics that sees higher chance for Malaysia (my country) to grab a medal. Today, there had been two important occasions regarding this sport. First of all is that the final of Japan Open 2012 Super Series was held today.

The championship saw the absence of the whole badminton team from China. The reason is probably due to the current rising tension and conflict between Japan and China over the sovereignty of an island. Hence, that gave a very good chance for other countries to perform in the tournament. And same goes to Malaysia. Malaysia is involved in three out of five finals; men single, men doubles and mixed doubles. That’s considered amazing for Malaysia, but to be honest, if China’s team is there, then there wouldn’t be so many Malaysians’ appearance in the final.

Lee Chong Wei should have an easy scoring looking at his recent form, and yes, he won against Boonsak Ponsana from Thailand in two straight games in men single. Another fortunate event for Malaysia would be the Malaysian mixed double pair, Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying won the mixed double match against an Indonesian pair in two straight games as well. However, things aren’t that good all the way for Malaysia as Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong lost to a junior pair from South Korea unexpectedly in men doubles. They showed such a bad performance just now as I did watch only their match few hours ago.

Another big occasion on this day related to badminton must have been the wedding of Lin Dan, known as the current world best badminton player with a former badminton player as well, Xie Xingfang. Both have been dating for so many years and finally they tied the knot today. Lin Dan had invited Chong Wei to attend but Chong Wei couldn’t due to time conflict with the Japan Open 2012 Final held today as well. Congratulation to the badminton-star couple. Both Lin Dan and Chong Wei might be enemies in court but they are actually friends outside court. It’s time for Lin Dan to start his family after winning so many major championships, and have been so much stable on his wealth and career.

(Image above showing Lin Dan and Xie XingFang posting at their wedding dinner from Lin Dan’s official Facebook page)

Their marriage even became the headline of today’s Chinese newspaper of Sin Chew. That is quite surprising. Ahh, for our Malaysia’s superstar, Lee Chong Wei, he is going to marry a former badminton player as well,Wong Mew Choo next year as reported. Such a similar pattern with that of Lin Dan. Haha…Let’s see whether Lin Dan would be invited or not. I think he would be if there is nothing on their schedule. Both of them had made so much fortune from this sport, and it should be time for them to rest, get married, and get a life! Haha…but for Chong Wei, he wish to stay in top form for few more years until 2016 for his very last Olympic outing at Rio de Janeiro for his ambition of winning Malaysia’s first ever gold medal in Olympic Games. An early good luck for him first.

Malaysia’s performance in London 2012 is by far the best in the nation’s history

The Summer Olympic Games, the world largest sporting event which had its 30th edition, London 2012 concluded yesterday saw the best performance of my country, Malaysia in the games based on the nation’s history. In total, Malaysia won a silver medal and a bronze medal from the games. Yes, this is not a good achievement if we are going to compare that with numerous medals won mostly by China, United States and the host country, Great Britain. But for a small country in South East Asia with only 30 participating athletes, it is already a great milestone for the nation in sports. Malaysia is ranked in top 60 among over 200 participating countries in the games.

Malaysians do not really excel well in variety of sports, particularly in athletics, football, gymnastics, basketball, ping pong and many others. The ones we focused on are definitely badminton, cycling, diving, squash and bowling. Lee Chong Wei is going to retire soon, and hence there seems to be no other talented junior to take over Chong Wei’s place to make the country proud from this sport which is currently overwhelmed by China’s mighty team. Recently, we saw lesser hope in cycling event from our not-improving cyclists. It is very hard to get a medal from diving since China is also very strong on this particular sport. Squash and bowling are not included in Olympic sports…too bad, if not, we would have a greater chance to win few more medals in the games.

London 2012 games repeated Malaysia’s success back in Atlanta 1996. In Atlanta 1996, Malaysia won also a silver and a bronze, but both medals are from only badminton. For this recent edition of the games, Malaysia had silver from badminton, won by Datuk Lee Chong Wei in men single while the bronze is from diving, won by Pandelela Rinong. Hence, I think that this games is by far the most successful for Malaysia’s performance, since the medals won now are from two different sports, instead of only one. Too bad that Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong finished in fourth placing in men doubles of badminton. They managed to get into semifinal which is so close to getting a medal but lost to the much stronger Korean team in bronze medal match.

So, the three best performances by Malaysia in London 2012 are:

1. Lee Chong Wei (Silver) : Won the first game of the final against Lin Dan from China but eventually losing out the last two games. It was a very close contest and luck in the end was not on his side that forced him to settle on silver again after he had won a silver medal previously in Beijing 2008. Now, he decided to compete also on the next Olympics, Rio 2016 if his physical strength is good by then.

2. Pandelela Rinong (Bronze) : A young talented woman in diving. She became the first Malaysian woman to won an Olympic medal, and this medal is also the first medal for Malaysia in diving sport. Well, from her achievement, Malaysia would start to see bigger potential of winning medal in other sports rather than just depending on badminton, that would eventually put a lot of pressure to the nation’s badminton players.

3. Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong (4th place) : Getting a fourth place is quite a good achievement, but without any medal in hand, it is a sad and pity thing for them. They had did their best. Getting even into the semi final is already a success to them. Nevermind, this pair had proven that they are not ‘missing in action’ this time after their glory back in 2006, winning gold medal in Doha 2006 Asian Games. Looking forward to them in next edition of the Olympics.

Congratulation to the winning Malaysian athletes, Lee Chong Wei and Pandelela Nirong. Both of you have made the country proud by having the nation’s flag raised up during victory ceremony in front of thousand of audiences. Eventhough there is still no ‘Negaraku’ (national song) heard indicating that the country have not won any Olympic gold medal before, but the opportunity is still there in future games. To the others who have not made it, it’s okay….you have tried your best. Well done anyway. Let’s hope that Malaysia will do much better in future games, by starting to prepare for the next games four years later to accomplish the goal of winning the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal.