KUALA LUMPUR - There’s no better feeling than going out at the very top and that’s exactly what independent mixed doubles shuttlers Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying plan to do at the Tokyo Olympics in July.
The pair has it to do just that. After all, they did reach the mixed doubles final of the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil five years ago, settling for the silver medal after losing 21-14, 21-12 to Indonesians Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir.
As Peng Soon, 33, said, nothing is impossible and he hopes to repeat the feat - albeit go one step better this time - before hanging up his badminton racquet.
“I hope we can reach the final,” he told Bernama when met recently.
Liu Ying, 31, also knows that this could possibly be their last Olympic appearance and, as such, has vowed to produce a stunning display “that will be remembered by all Malaysians and all badminton fans around the world”.
Liu Ying, who has been named as one of the two Malaysian flag-bearers for the Tokyo Games, acknowledged that they will face far greater challenges compared to Rio 2016 and called on Malaysians to rally behind them.
Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria recently said that Malaysia would, for the first time, have two flag-bearers in Liu Ying and national archer Khairul Anuar Mohamad at the Tokyo Olympics from July 23-Aug 8.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying are ranked seventh in the world with 70,420 points in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking. - Bernama. May 15, 2021
