Silver for Malaysia

(Image credit: The Star)

After 3 intense weeks, the Olympics is finally over. Brian and I found ourselves cheering for Team USA and Team Malaysia (naturally!) but only Brian was cheering for Team Singapore. One reason why I was hesitant about my support of Team Singapore is that most of the participants of Team Singapore were not "pure/local" Singaporeans but rather imported talents from abroad (China, Indonesia, etc).

Team Malaysia's strongest bet was its badminton men's singles and while we did not achieve the gold we had coveted, we did get the silver. But silver is not good enough... Following is a letter written by a good friend on why that is the case. The letter which was published in The New Straits Times (one of Malaysia's national newspapers) is self-explanatory on our disappointment in our badminton "hero," Lee Chong Wei:

Like many other Malaysians, I was hoping that Lee Chong Wei will be able to perform to his ability and bring home the elusive Olympics gold. After all, he has provided us with many reasons to believe he can do it (from previous results) while we Malaysians pour out our endless emotional and financial (yup, we pay our taxes don't we) support to him. His only setback would be lack of mental toughness but wait...I believe that weakness have been identified and overcame. Remember? Lee entered the 2006 World Championship as the world ranked number one and as the top seeded player. In the 2006 World Championships, he lost to Bao Chunlai of China in the quarterfinal despite dominating the first game. Prior to losing this match to Bao, their head to head meetings record stood at 8-0 in favour of Lee. After the shocking loss, Lee suffered many more defeats with dismal performances which resulted in the end of his reign as world no.1.

In the Indonesian Open 2007, the old Lee Chong Wei reappeared by winning the title and beating Bao Chunlai in the final. After that, his fine form continued until the 2007 World Badminton Championships in Kuala Lumpur. Yes, again Lee suffered a shocking defeat in the last 16 to Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia and blamed the defeat on us Malaysians who supported him. Lee blamed us for putting too much pressure on him with our vociferous support for him. Fortunately, it didn't took Lee long to rebound from his second meltdown. From there, he chalked up more impressive wins and it seemed that Lee Chong Wei has finally managed to overcome his mental meltdowns from the loss in the 2006 World Championships and 2007 World Badminton Championships.

Then came the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Prior to Sunday (the fateful day - August 17, 2008), I was quietly confident that Lee could steal the gold medal from the Chinese players. In fact (in my opinion), Lee was the only player who could defeat Lin Dan or at least give Lin a run for his money. Lee has the required skills, power, speed and stamina to match Lin. My only concern was his mental strength but again we are talking about the Olympics. I'm sure BAM would have looked into that area (as I have read in the newspapers) for Lee who has a history to suffer mental meltdown during crunch time. As the badminton competition of the Olympics progressed, my confidence in Lee grew as he showed that he was able to handle the pressure and he has matured. I was indeed impressed with his mental recovery to win the semi final match, after uncharacteristically losing the second game in such tame manner to Lee Hyun-Il.

The final day for Olympics badminton competition started with such an exciting match - the bronze medal playoff for Mixed Doubles. The four players were battling so fiercely as if it was a gold medal match and their life was on the line. Then came the gold medal match for Mixed Doubles. Wow an upset! The no. 1 seeded Indonesian pair fell to the Korean pair. Inspiring. In fact, Zhang Ning's win over Xie Xianfang was also very inspiring. Could Lin Dan fall to Lee Chong Wei just like the other top seeds that have previously fell in the Olympics badminton?

Unfortunately, we have to witness an embarrassing defeat of Lee by Lin. Don't get me wrong. I'm not angry or disappointed that Lee lost to Lin. I'm angry and disappointed by the way Lee lost to Lin. It makes me even more upset to find out that Lee was given a hero's welcome and untimely praises by Malaysians. Why are we celebrating? What is there to celebrate? The silver medal is the least that Lee should deliver. Anything less than a silver from Lee would have been a disaster and money wasted. Why are we Malaysians treating him as a hero while Lee was just merely doing his job and performing his responsibility. Malaysia has spent our tax payers' money (all these years) to fund Lee and the badminton team to bring home a gold not a silver. Why are we Malaysians toasting Lee as a champion when he has ended up second best? Are we so desperate that even losing should be a reason for us to celebrate and crowned a hero?

If we do not put a stop to the "loser" mentality, Malaysian sports will never produce another world champion or Olympic gold medalist. It was very obvious that Lin shouldered as much pressure as Lee (if not more - just compare China's population to Malaysia to do the math) but Lin shown the winners' attitude and approach. Lin was determined to win and prepared well for the match while Lee was merely trying to win. The attitude and approach proved to be difference in separating the winner and loser for the match. I sincerely hope that this experience will open up the eyes and mind of all Malaysians that in order to win, it all starts with having the winning mind set. There is no point in giving a wrong illusion by toasting second best and treating them as heroes or Malaysia as a country will never win any area. Lee should be given a pat on the back for a job done but not hero's treatment. The development of badminton in Malaysia is falling into the trap of other sports that are spiraling downward like football and hockey (just to name a couple). The main area that we lose at is lacking the winning attitude and mindset. Datuk Nicol David truly deserves a hero's welcome and Malaysians should learn how to be world champions from her - the only true champion and hero of Malaysian sports.