The wait for Olympic gold continues as shuttlers Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong lost the Rio Olympics men’s doubles final to China’s Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan on Friday.
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The Malaysia Men’s Doubles team had already made headlines when they advanced through to the finals as they were matched against two big names in the badminton scene and it’s safe to say our boys put up a good fight during the badminton finals for Rio Olympics 2016.
Roared on by a raucous contingent of home fans, the 12th-ranked pair closed out an impressive 21-18 21-17 win at the Riocentro to give Malaysia another chance to win their first-ever Olympic gold medal.
V Shem-Wee Kiong became the first Malaysian men’s doubles pair to clinch a spot in the final after Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock had won silver in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
China, who swept all five titles at London, celebrated their first gold in the tournament after being frustrated in the women’s doubles and singles, and the mixed doubles.
Then, in a major shock, top seeds and defending champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei were dumped out by Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia, 21-16, 21-15.
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Goh and Tan, now ranked 12th in the world, were outstanding when they defeated Chinese pair Chai Biao-Hong Wei in the semi-final on Tuesday after a tense three-set match. “My legs had gone and I was just standing there”, said Langridge.
