Beijing 2008: Despite defeated, he is still the best!

I was quite disappointed to watch Lee Chong Wei's performance against Lin Dan in the Olympic badminton men singles final last Sunday. Perhaps, I was putting so much hope to see the first Olympic gold medal for Malaysia, where it could be closely contributed by my favorite game, badminton.

But then I realized that Lee Chong Wei has delivered his best for the game. It's just Lin Dan who was so tough and improved a lot during this Olympic, and perhaps it was his last performance in Olympic game.

Personally, despite defeated, Lee Chong Wei is still the best national single shuttler in the history. His unstoppable effort should highly be commendable. I hope that he will continue to improve and strive at his best for all Malaysians. Congratulation Lee Chong Wei, and Misbun Sidek for making Malaysians proud!

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More news at The Star: Chong Wei touched by show of support

SEPANG: Lee Chong Wei returned home yesterday with a heavy heart after his failure to nail the first gold medal for Malaysia in the Olympics.

But getting a hero's welcome at the Kuala Lumpur International Aiport (KLIA) brought back the smile on his face. About 300 people with huge congratulatory banners greeted Chong Wei and the Malaysian badminton team at the arrival hall to the beat of the kompang and thunderous applause.

On Sunday, Chong Wei suffered his worst defeat by China's Lin Dan in the men's singles final. Still, the silver medal was Malaysia's best result in 12 years at the Olympics and the best achievement by a singles player.

Lee Chong Wei and coach Misbun Sidek on arrival at the KLIA Monday.
- Ibrahim Mohtar/The Star

Chong Wei appreciated the show of support.

“I was sad because I could not win gold medal for the country. Many would have been disappointed with the manner I lost. But from the welcome I received today, I felt as though I had won the gold medal,” he said.

“I am glad that the nation is still supportive of me despite my defeat.

“This means a lot to me. It will only spur me on to work even harder to achieve more good results for the country.”

Chong Wei said that the experience playing at the Beijing Games was priceless.

“There were days that I could not sleep and there were days when I had no appetite to eat. The pressure was great. But I have no excuse for the defeat. Lin Dan was so fast, he had improved so much,” he said.

Chong Wei hoped for more singles talent to emerge for Malaysia.

“The next two major tournaments are the World Championships (2009) and the Asian Games (2010). With the help of my coach (Misbun Sidek), I will be ready for these tournaments,” he said.

“But like China, I hope that there will be more than one Malaysian singles player vying for honours in these tournaments. It helps when one can support the other, just like the players from China.”

Misbun said that he would not waste time as far as grooming new talent was concerned.

“The training will be tougher from now for Chong Wei. I want to get him ready for the next Olympics. At the same, my work will start immediately to groom other Olympians. This will be my challenge,” said Misbun.