Mei Kuan-Meng Yean bow out in style
Published on: Wednesday, July 28, 2021
By: Bernama
.jpg "Mei Kuan-Meng Yean bow out in style")
Liu Ying
TOKYO: National women’s doubles shuttlers Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean ended their Tokyo Olympic campaign on a winning note although it failed to stop them from making an early exit.The world number 11 outlasted Great Britain’s world number 14 Chloe Birch-Lauren Smith 21-19, 21-16 in 44 minutes in their final Group A match at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza here, Tuesday.
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Although it was their 10th win of the season, it was to no avail as the Malaysians were already out of contention for the quarter-finals after losing their first two group matches.
The Malaysians had lost 14-21, 17-21 to world number six Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia in their opening match before going down 21-17, 15-21, 8-21 to Japan’s world number one Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota.
Mei Kuan-Meng Yean are the second pair from the national badminton camp in Tokyo to bite the dust after failing to get past the group stage following mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying’s early exit as well. Peng Soon-Liu Ying, the 2016 Rio Olympic silver medallist, lost all three of their group matches – just as they did in their Olympic debut in the London edition in 2012.
Meanwhile, the critics, especially the keyboard warriors, can say what they want on social media, but Liu Ying does not intend to dwell on it too much.
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The 32-year-old said that like all sports fans in Malaysia, she and her partner, Peng Soon, were also disappointed with their failure to make an impact here despite having given their best.
Mei Kuan (left) hits a shot next to Meng Yean during their match against Britain’s Lauren Smith and Chloe Birch.
“I understand they (netizens) have placed high hopes on us. That’s why they criticised our performance (at the Tokyo Olympics). But, for me, the most important thing about being an athlete is that we gave our best.
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“We play to win… for ourselves and the nation. If their comments are positive, we will accept, but if they are negative to the extent that our performance is affected, then I won’t bother,” she said when met at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza here.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying failed to win any of their three group matches at the Tokyo Olympics and that resulted in netizens hurling online abuses on the pair on social media.
In their opening match, the national number one pair fell 18-21, 21-10, 16-21 to Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet. They then went down 12-21, 15-21 to Germans Mark Lamsfuss-Isabel Herttrich.
In their final group match on Monday (July 26), world number seven Peng Soon-Liu Ying lost 13-21, 19-21 to China’s world number three pair Wang Yilyu-Huang Dong Ping.
Liu Ying said she’d rather listen to what her coach had to say in a bid to improve her combination with Peng Soon on the court.
“I feel that there is no need to bother about the comments by them (netizens). I will only listen to comments from my coach about any weaknesses in my game as he (the coach) is an important person in determining my style of play.
“I know they (fans) have placed high hopes on us but if their comments do not help us improve our performance, then we won’t take it,” she said, adding that she appreciated the continued support of various parties, especially her family, in facing the challenging situation.
Liu Ying, who suffered a leg injury during the Tokyo Olympics, said that her focus now would be on qualifying for the World Championships and the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals at the end of this year.
Liu Ying, who said that she was not trying to give excuses, explained that like other athletes, they too were affected by the various challenges and obstacles posed by the Covid-19 pandemic which, to some extent, affected their performance here.
“They (netizens) perhaps take five seconds on the keyboard (to post negative comments), but we have been preparing for two, three years for the Olympics. But we can’t explain what we have done… it’s not easy to qualify for the Olympics.
“Still, as long as I have done my best and didn’t offend anyone, that’s good enough. We have done all we can for the country. In fact, we have toiled for 12 years and played in three Olympics for the country… that is very meaningful to us,” she said.
Meanwhile, Peng Soon expressed his appreciation for the continued support by various parties, including Malaysian sports fans, despite their failure here.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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