Commendable feat: Cheng Su Yin (left) and Yap Roy King went all the way to the mixed doubles final before going down fighting 22-20, 8-21, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu.
FOR the first time in 12 years, the Malaysian badminton came back without a single gold medal, falling short of their target of at least one gold.
The last time Malaysia did not contribute even one gold was in the 2011 edition in Palembang.
However, the outing in Phnom Penh was not a total failure.
That, at least, is the assessment of team manager Mohd Taupik Hussain.
Hopes were mainly on Leong Jun Hao to deliver in the men’s singles but while he performed brilliantly in the team event, he could not continue his good form in the individual event and had to settle for bronze.
World No. 62 Jun Hao went down 19-21, 12-21 in a tight battle with world No. 56 and eventual champion Christian Adinata in the last four.
“For me, Jun Hao gave his best,” said Taupik. “He lost in the semi-finals but he was facing the second-seeded Indonesian.
“There is room for improvement but he did really well in the team event.”
Jun Hao stunned Thailand’s world No. 33 Sitthikom Thammasin in the last four of the team event, as Malaysia beat the defending champions 3-2.
The 23-year-old also toppled Indonesia’s Chico Aura in the team final but that didn’t prevent the team from going down 1-3.
However, Taupik acknowledged that the women’s team were a letdown. They suffered a shock 0-3 defeat to Philippines in the quarter-finals, which led to a cleanout of officials in the Academy Badminton Malaysia.
“The only failure was the women’s team. We don’t want to give any excuses and we need to analyse what happened,” said Taupik.
The women’s team had also lost 1-3 to hosts Vietnam at the same stage in the last edition in Hanoi.
Tan Zhing Yi, Low Yeen Yuan-Valeree Siow and Siti Nurshuhaini Azman were all stunned by a pumped-up Philippines team.
Yeen Yuan did earn some redemption in the individual event, though, when she combined with Low Xin Jie to win a women’s doubles bronze.
Cheng Su Yin was undoubtedly the best performer from the women’s team.
Su Yin, who had only been partnered with Yap Roy King for this Games, went all the way to the mixed doubles final before going down fighting 22-20, 8-21, 16-21 to Indonesia’s world No. 10 Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu.
The silver medal was even more remarkable as Su Yin was playing for the first time in mixed doubles in a senior competition.
The 20-year-old also won a bronze in the women’s doubles with her twin sister Cheng Su Hui.
Mixed doubles coach Mohd Lutfi Zaim was pleased with both Roy King and Su Yin’s performance.
“Although they are a scratch pair, they still gave the Indonesians a tough fight. They only lost out a bit in terms of quality and consistency,” said Lutfi.
“I hope Roy King can now gain more maturity and keep improving with his usual partner, Valeree.
“Su Yin, meanwhile, has proved that she can compete well in the mixed doubles and we need to see if she can play both (women’s and mixed doubles) after this.”
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