So long: Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See hugging each other after losing their first-round match to China’s Cheng Xing-Li Qian at the Malaysian Masters.
KUALA LUMPUR: Chan Peng Soon has called on the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to give the mixed doubles equal attention as the other departments.
The 36-year-old Peng Soon was one of the most successful mixed doubles shuttlers when he partnered Goh Liu Ying to win the silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and it was a feat that no other mixed pair have achieved.
However, Peng Soon believed that the development of mixed doubles in the country has not been on par with other departments and hopes that the BAM will not treat them as the last choice.
“I hope that BAM can give more priority to mixed doubles in their programme instead of waiting until after addressing singles and doubles,” said Peng Soon.
“I believe that the mixed doubles have the potential to improve significantly and shouldn’t be treated as the last choice.
“Otherwise, its development will be much slower and fall behind the world standards.”
Peng Soon bade farewell to the sport after playing his last international match with his partner Cheah Yee See at the Malaysian Masters in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
It might not be the ideal result as they were beaten 10-21, 6-21 by Cheng Xing-Li Qian of China in the opening round but they received tremendous cheer from the home fans.
“Let’s not talk about the match. It was horrible, so let’s skip that part,” joked Peng Soon.
“I’m still having mixed feelings but I’m also at peace. I felt like crying just now but I told myself to control my emotions.”
“I have no regrets choosing badminton as a career and it’s not easy to achieve the results I have. For me, badminton is not just about achievements, it has also allowed me to explore more of the world.
“I frequently travel abroad, experiencing different cultures and learn from them.”
As for Yee See, she acknowledges that it was not her best performance, but she has no regrets as she gave her all throughout the match.
“I was finding it difficult to shake that off today as it might be my last day as an athlete.
“My most memorable moment was helping Malaysia reach the Sudirman Cup semi-finals in 2021.
“I can’t forget that because I played and won the deciding match in the quarter-finals.
“I want to thank all the fans, near and far, for supporting us all the time.”
