SHAH ALAM: Overconfidence is truly a bane in sports.
Penang team captain and shuttler Lee Jan Jireh (pic) was slapped with a reality check after his squad struggled in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) team competition second round against Sarawak yesterday.
“We were not prepared for today. After beating Johor 5-0 (on the first day), we got cocky,” admitted Jan Jireh after their second Group B game at Setia City Convention Centre.
“We fielded our reserves to give them a chance to play but it almost backfired.”
Though the 21-year-old did his bit by beating Chung Jia Ho 21-4, 21-16, the overall scores were tied at 2-2 going into the final game.
The pressure persisted until the very end as Penang’s Kong Wei Xiang had to endure a gruelling match to overcome Jared Foo Dun Liang of Sarawak 21-13, 19-21, 21-17.
However, the world No. 166 admitted that his squad will have to work twice as hard from now as they did not have the depth to field their best players for every game.
“We only have three singles players, five doubles players, and one reserve player. It’s going to get very tiring,” he said.
“We want the gold. Each player has their own role to play and if we work together, it is not impossible.”
The path to gold stays uphill for the Penangites as they will next face last Games runners-up Federal Territory.
