Critics clueless about badminton: Brother
Published on: Sunday, August 21, 2016
Tawau: Wee Kiong's younger brother, Tan Wee Tat, said quarters who blame his brother and Goh V Shem for not being able to clinch the gold medal in the Rio Olympics on Friday night know nothing about badminton."It is unfair for players to be blamed as they have already qualified for the finals and had given their best… as players, who wouldn't want a gold medal?" he said, Saturday.He was responding to critics unhappy that the men's doubles pair only managed silver. The earlier Mixed doubles pair of Chen Peng Soon and Goh Liu Yin were also criticised by peninsula Bahasa Malaysia papers for not bringing home the gold medal.
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Wee Kiong and V Shem grabbed the silver in the closely fought men's badminton doubles after they were defeated by the narrowest of margins by Chinese pair Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan 21-16, 11-21 and 23-21.Wee Tat admitted being a bit disappointed as the two leading points gained by his brother and V Shem were not taken advantage of."After trailing three points, Wee Kiong and V Shem managed to draw level at 17 and then at 19, and subsequently they got 20 points… at this point, we could see that there is hope for us (to win gold medal) but luck was not on our side."They fought relentlessly and that is good enough… we are happy but we were unfortunate," he said.
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According to Wee Tat, his brother and V Shem played a good strategy but perhaps "anxiety got the best of them which led to victory for the Chinese side."Nevertheless, the family is proud of his outstanding achievement together with Goh.
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Wee Kiong's mother, Tan Yok Hua, 52, said she is extremely proud of her son and his partner for performing well in the finals."It's okay even though we did not grab the gold medal… we are happy for qualifying to the finals. They did their best," she said after watching the match at their residence, here.But she could not hide her anxiety as during the match, there were a few incidences where she went inside the bedroom to "hide"."They played really well. I did not even expect him to qualify for the finals as this is the first time he played in the Olympics. You (Wee Kiong) have done well."Wee Tat also conveyed his gratitude towards Malaysians who provided never-ending support for Wee Kiong and V Shem at the Olympics.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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