PETALING JAYA: The badminton competition at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games is over, with Malaysia once again left watching as other nations celebrated gold while their own 20-year wait continued.
Former national player Datuk Razif Sidek said Malaysia had to accept that the campaign had fallen short of expectations despite returning with a bronze medal through women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah.
The medal ended Malaysia’s 12-year wait for a women’s doubles podium finish at the Games since Woon Khe Wei-Vivian Hoo won bronze at Incheon 2014, but Razif felt it was not enough to mask the disappointment elsewhere.
One lesson he believes Malaysia should take from the campaign was the decision to field scratch pair Aaron Chia-Tee Kai Wun in the men’s doubles.
With Aaron-Kai Wun playing together as a new pair, they were drawn against world No. 1 Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae in the second round and lost 19-21, 16-21.
Razif felt things could have been different had Aaron remained with his regular partner Soh Wooi Yik, as the pair would have been seeded and may have avoided facing the top-ranked Koreans at such an early stage.
"I hope BAM can take this as a lesson because changing partners before a major tournament can hurt us, especially when it comes to seeding.
"We could see the effect when some of our pairs had to face strong opponents very early in the tournament.
"Aaron-Kai Wun played well, but they were still not quite at the same level as some of the other top pairs.
"We also have to accept that this campaign did not go according to plan. We won a bronze, but before the Games we were hoping for at least one silver and one bronze,” said Razif.
Razif was also left wondering what went wrong for Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who were unable to produce their best despite being one of Malaysia’s main medal hopes.
"It is difficult to explain. When there are high expectations on them, sometimes they do not deliver, but when there is less pressure, the opposite can happen.
"But they have tried their best," he added.
Malaysia’s last Asian Games badminton gold came through Tan Boon Heong-Koo Kien Keat at the 2006 Doha edition.
Razif felt Pearly-Thinaah had a real chance to end that long wait this time, although he was still pleased with the bronze they eventually won after losing to Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning in the semi-finals.
The one-bronze haul this time matched their showing at Hangzhou 2022, when Badminton Association of Malaysia's (BAM) Aaron-Wooi Yik were the country’s only medallists.
