On 5th August 2012, I was there at
the venue Wembley Arena London, to witness the historic moment and to cheer for
Lee Chong Wei, in the Badminton Men's Singles Final. That was touted to be the
most realistic Gold Medal hope for Malaysia ever, for the first time in
history. That was also the second showdown in Olympic game final since
Beijing Olympics 2008, between the top 2 seeds – Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei and
China’s Lin Dan.
I was extremely fortunate to have
obtained the ticket, which drew a lot of jealousy back in my homeland. The
match was itself an epic. The live atmosphere was superb, exhibiting the fierce
rivalry of show of support for both players’ origin country. I was in a row of
majority Malaysian supporters, and behind me was a row of Chinese supporters. As
the match was going on, we exchanged the loud shouts and stomps. 'Malaysia/Lee
Chong Wei BOLEH' vs 'Zhong Guo Dui/Lin Dan JIAYOU' Meanwhile, I did spot the Malaysia No.1 fan for
Badminton, who else other than the famous ‘First Lady’ Prime Minister’s wife
Rosmah Mansor (who traveled a great distance just the night before for this
final match)? Her signature oversized hair shape was unmistakably recognised from afar,
as she entered the venue belatedly, surrounding with other VIPs cladded in
orange national sports team jacket. The next time when I saw her again at close
distance, it was after the narrow defeat of Lee CW. She seemed not too much
affected by the result, heading to the exit with an entourage of no less than
10 people. I was not in the mood at all for shaking hands or taking photos.
Despite the final score line, I must
confess that both players have performed at their best, even for the case of eventual
loser Lee CW. The third set was particularly an anxious nailbiting breathtaking
experience to watch. The score was super tight and the rally went point
by point, chasing each other right towards the end of match. The watershed was
at the point of 19-19, where Super Dan gained the ‘turbo’ to kill the game decisively by taking the
final 2 straight points with his outburst confidence. Lee CW succumbed and I
was left immediately deeply disappointed. The stadium ran wild with loud cheers
and waving of 5 star red flags. I could not bear to witness the cocky topless frenzy
running celebration style of Lin Dan (in Football game, this would merit a
straight yellow card!). Still I could not ask more from Dato Lee whom has given
his best to the nation. My Thai friend analysed that to me, saying that Lin Dan
has the stronger mental strength and sheer determination to carry him through
the crucial final points, and obviously outpowered Lee. Although I believe also
that Lee was out of luck, I do think my friend got some truth in his analysis.
I can't help but also ponder on
these questions: Where do we go from here? If Dato Lee would not participate in
the next Olympic game, then who will succeed him as the leading hope for the
first Gold? Besides Badminton, what other sports could also make it happen and
make us proud as a nation? Sure we have invested quite a substantial amount of
money in Badminton, as this is the traditional sport we excel at. However, that
is not good enough. In this Olympics, we have seen other previously unknown
athletes, our homegrown unsung heroes representing our nation in the final round
of other sports such as diving and track-cycling ( latest update: we have just won one bronze medal for
Women’s 10m diving!), but unfortunately they drew
lower attention than Badminton sport did. I guess now it is time to call for
national sports 'transformation'. National Sports Council of Malaysia should manage and distribute the funding
better so that all resources could be channeled directly to the benefits of
athletes and coaches, meanwhile also for spotting and training the new genuine sport talents.
