KUALA LUMPUR: Former Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin lauded the Malaysian badminton players' performance in the recent Paris Olympics, describing the men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik as the badminton's squad best performers.
He said he believed the pair's the pair's performance in the semi-final was good enough to win the gold medal despite losing against the Chinese pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.
"I think the best performers among the medal winners were Aaron and Wooi Yik…their comeback in the bronze medal match against the Danes was phenomenal.
"But when we look at the semi-final against China, I thought they were the better pair in terms of gameplay. However, their unforced errors and a bit of bad luck didn't work in their favour. In terms of skill, Aaron and Wooi Yik could have won; they were good enough for gold.
"I believed they could have won. That's an improvement. They won bronze in Tokyo, and it's clear that the BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia) and KBS (Youth and Sports Ministry) programme under the Podium Programme have paid off, and they peaked at the right time," Khairy said in an episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast.
Meanwhile, commenting on Malaysia's number one men's singles player, Lee Zii Jia, Khairy said the bronze medal won by Zii Jia was a 'victory over a lot of demons,' referencing the challenges he faced before the tournament.
Khairy noted that prior to the Olympics, Zii Jia dealt with numerous issues, including his decision to leave BAM and criticism from the media.
"I thought Zii Jia overcame a lot to win the bronze medal," Khairy said.
Lee secured his first Olympic medal after defeating India's Lakshya Sen 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 and became only the third Malaysian to reach the men's singles podium, following in the footsteps of Datuk Rashid Sidek (bronze, Barcelona 1992) and Datuk Lee Chong Wei (silver, Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016).
Additionally, Khairy praised the women's doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah for their impressive performance in the tournament, particularly in the quarter-finals.
Despite her early exit in the group stage, Khairy also expressed his continued faith in Malaysia's women's singles player, Goh Jin Wei, noting her previous success in winning the World Junior Championships.