Mixed doubles pair win silver

PETALING JAYA: Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying will be taking home silver medals for the badminton mixed doubles, coming up just short of achieving their dreams for gold in their final match at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday.

It is a historic achievement as Malaysia has previously not been strong in mixed doubles and it was also not expected from the pair before the tournament.

Indonesians Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir snagged the gold after being victorious in two sets.

The match ended 14-21, 12-21 after two sets.

In the first half of the opening set, the Indonesians took the lead with 11-5 lead.

Chan-Goh managed to close the gap somewhat but seemed to succumb to nerves.

In the second set, the Indonesians continued to push Chan-Goh, maintaining a slight lead throughout the set.

However, near the end of the set the Indonesians pushed for a more significant lead which the Malaysians could not overcome.

This final was the first in a three-prong attack with Malaysian shuttlers pushing for honours.

The men's doubles team of Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong will take on Chinese pair Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan at 10.50pm in Friday's final.

Also on Friday at 8.30pm, Datuk Lee Chong Wei will take on his arch-nemesis Lin Dan of China in the men’s singles semi-final in a bid to ensure a third medal from badminton in the Rio Olympics.