KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian badminton team had high hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the men’s team event at the Hangzhou Asian Games, but unfortunately, they fell short of that goal.
In the Round of 16 stage, unseeded Malaysia faced South Korea and lost 1-3 in the overall match score.
Speaking to Scoop, national coaching director Rexy Mainaky admitted that “it was a shame” for the team to have missed out on the opportunity to book a berth in the quarterfinals.
“It’s such a shame that we lost to South Korea. We were hoping, out of the three men’s singles matches, we could at least win one… but we didn’t manage to make it to the third singles.
“(On paper) I know our players have the chance to win. If you look at the ranking of our men’s singles, they are higher ranked than South Korea’s.
“Maybe they felt the pressure to win, but that should not be the reason. South Korea did better than us,” said a frustrated Rexy.
The only point for Malaysia was secured by the top national men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who defeated reigning world champions Seo Seung Jae-Kang Min Hyuk, 21-17, 21-9, in 48 minutes at Binjiang Gymnasium.
The team’s performance began with Lee Zii Jia, the world number 16, who played the first match against the 47th-ranked Jeon Hyeok Jin.
Unfortunately, Zii Jia lost with a score of 21-14, 14-21, 21-18.
It seemed that his training arrangement with Thailand’s number two player, Kantaphon Wangcharoen, prior to joining the national training camp ahead of the Asian Games, did not yield positive results.
Malaysia’s hopes for an equalising point then rested on Ng Tze Yong, ranked 19th in the world.
However, he also faced defeat, losing to Lee Yun Gyu in straight games, 11-21, 16-21.
In the fourth match with the second men’s doubles pair, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi struggled to turn the tide in Malaysia’s favor.
They lost to Kim Won Ho-Na Sung Seung in straight games, 16-21, 18-21, in a match that lasted 52 minutes.
For the record, Malaysia’s best achievements at the Asian Games were being runners-up in the 1966 Bangkok and 1990 Beijing editions.
They have also won seven bronze medals in various editions of the Asian Games, including 1962, 1970, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2014. – September 28, 2023