Kuala Lumpur: The 2016 Rio Olympics was undoubtedly a memorable one for Malaysian shuttlers as they took home three silver medals – from the men’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles categories.
The proud achievement of the Malaysian badminton squad at the Rio Olympics has motivated Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean who ranked No. 10 in the BWF Race to Tokyo rankings, to do well at the Tokyo Olympics.
Chow, who will make her Olympic debut with Lee, said the achievement of three silver medals by the Malaysian badminton camp in Rio really inspired them to strive for a great result in the Olympics.
“We will try to reach the goal of winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics,” said Chow.
“We will fight hard and will do our best,” added Chow in a video uploaded on the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Facebook page.
At the 2016 Rio Games, Lee Chong Wei, Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Keong and Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying scored silver medals in the men’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles categories respectively.
Meanwhile, Lee Meng Yean said they need to cut down their mistakes when competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
“We haven’t been playing in a lot of tournaments in the past year, therefore, reducing our mistakes and trying to be more consistent is the most important thing for us,” said Lee.
“Since we do not know how well our opponents will be playing, we’ll need to prepare to play rallies and other things as well,” added Lee.
In addition to Chow and Lee, five other Malaysian players have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics including Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles); Soniia Cheah (women’s singles); Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles); and Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (mixed doubles).
The badminton event in Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to take place between 24 July and 2 August 2021 at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza.
