Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik brought cheers to the Malaysian contingent after defeating Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 16-21, 22-20, 21-19 at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena to win the bronze medal in the men’s doubles event.
The feat matches their finish at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
The Malaysian pair turned the tie around when they saved four match points in the second game to go from 16-20 down to win 22-20.
Malaysia stands a chance to win another medal as Lee Zii Jia will play India’s Lakshya Sen tomorrow (8.30pm Malaysian time) for the men’s singles bronze medal match.
Lee lost in the semifinals earlier today after failing to overcome Thailand’s world champion, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who won 21-14, 21-15 in 50 minutes.
Lee had hoped to become the second Malaysian singles player to reach the gold medal match, but he failed to follow in the footsteps of Datuk Lee Chong Wei, who won silver in 2008, 2012, and 2016.
In the other semifinal, defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark defeated a spirited Sen – the unseeded shuttler who had surpassed all expectations in the French capital.
Axelsen returned from the brink in the first game, recovering from 17-20 to win 22-20. The former world champion shifted into another gear in the second game to win 21-14 to enter his second consecutive Olympic Games final.
The world No. 2 can become the second man to win back-to-back gold medals. China’s Lin Dan achieved that feat in Beijing in 2008, and in London, four years later.
However, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) must do some soul-searching as soon as the national shuttlers return home from the Paris Olympics.
For the second consecutive Games, Malaysia had no representatives in the finals of the five categories – men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and the mixed doubles.
While there were some positives – most notably the performances of the women’s pair of Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, who reached the semifinals – the progress of Indian and Thai players means that it will only get harder from here on out.
