It's so heart-breaking .....

Badminton is the most popular sport in Malaysia. I dare to say that every Malaysian played badminton at least once in their life. Badminton is like the "promoter" for Malaysia in the world of sports. Malaysia never won an olympic gold medal, and the closest we came is silver medal in badminton. We never won a World Championship medal before too...And last sunday was our best chance to end our 22 years wait for another Thomas Cup triumph.....we came very close btw.

Most of us were shock and quite happy when we knew that the mighty China lost to Japan in their semi-final match. With great hope and spirit, we won our semi-final against another strong team, Indonesia later that day. We felt that "This is it, this is the time, we can do it and we must do it", knowing that this is the moment where we can once again stamp our mark as the Big Guns of badminton sport after some years.

We knew that Japan beating the Japanese team won't be an easy task, with their rising stars and the great talent in their squad. We knew that our boys would struggle, I personally felt that Japan is the one to beat, not Malaysia. Ofcourse beating China wasn't an easy task, but the Japanese did it in 3 straight games, it was a excellent achievement for them, and proved that they are serious contender for the tournament and also the future tournament. If it was 10 to 20 years back, we wouldn't had doubted our chance of winning against Japan, we were surely going to trash them. Credits must be given to the Japanese badminton association for such an effective development system and producing so many incredible talent for the future.

During that match, every one of the players gave their very best. It was such an intense match, the scoreline were very close in every game, great badminton were displayed. The person that impressed me the most was the second single player from Japan, Kento Momota. After watching his match against Du pengyu of China, everybody could feel that this young man is the one for the future. He is a complete player. Speed, skills, strength, mindset, he has it all. Without a shadow of a doubt, he shown us again by beating Chong Wei Fong.

At the end the score were level at 2 game each, and we were going into the fifth and deciding game. Every Malaysian were putting their hope on Liew Daren, and so do every Japanese hoping for the best for Ueda. It turned into an UNFORGETTABLE match when Liew Daren made a remarkable come-back to take the match into the third set. It was nerve-wrecking for both set of fans and their respective teammates and coaching staff. The fans and team members of both team were trying their best to cheer on both of the playes who looked so nervous and tiring. It might be the best badminton that both the players ever played in their career. They were so motivated by the crowd and wanting to make their country proud. 

At last the nerves were too much for our player, though it was a great final. Congratulations to Japan for their first ever Thomas Cup victory. It is the match that would be remembered for a long time. Although is was not a result that all Malaysian hoped for, but everybody were very proud of the spirit and commitment of our players, especially Liew Daren. We are proud of you all & Thank you for making us and our country proud.