Kuala Lumpur: The World No. 9 men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik wanted to win gold medal at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in Japan.
As quoted by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website, Chia said they were determined to win gold at the world’s biggest sporting tournament which schedule to start on July, 23, in Tokyo.
“We want to be the first, the first ones ever to get the gold medal,” said Chia to BWF.
The pair, who are currently ranked ninth in the BWF Race to Tokyo rankings, have qualified for the Olympics and were aiming to achieve good results at their maiden outing in the Olympics.
Led by Rio Olympics mixed doubles silver medalists – Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying, Malaysia has six other players who have booked their spots for the Tokyo Olympics, including Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles), Soniia Cheah (women’s singles), Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles), Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean (women’s doubles).
For the record, Malaysia has so far not won an Olympic gold medal since it first participated in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics (as Malaya).
Malaysia’s men’s doubles legends, Razif and Jailani Sidek won Malaysia’s first Olympic medal, a bronze medal in the men’s doubles event when badminton was first introduced at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock then clinched the silver medal in the men’s doubles event four years later in the Atlanta Olympics.
So far, Malaysian athletes have won a total of 11 Olympic medals, 8 in badminton, 2 in diving, and 1 in cycling. The most successful Malaysian Olympian by medals won was Lee Chong Wei with 3 silver medals in badminton.
The 2016 Rio Olympics was the most successful edition for Malaysian badminton. Along with Lee Chong Wei’s men’s singles silver, the country also bagged silver medals in men’s doubles (Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong) and mixed doubles (Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying).
