C’WEALTH GAMES Gold Team Final – Malaysian Hat-trick

Malaysia responded strongly to their opening loss in the mixed to win the Gold Medal Final 3-1, after Chong Wei Feng fought hard to break England’s Mr Reliable.

By Michael Burke, Badzine Correspondent, live from Glasgow.  Photos: Yohan Nonotte for Badmintonphoto (live).

The opening match saw English pair Adcock and Adcock (pictured left) come out hard to blow away their Malaysian opponents, but a scrappy fight was required as the English had to save 7 game points before they could take the match.

“We’re obviously very happy with that.” Chris said afterwards. “It was a very tight second game. We just held on better, they’re a good pair.”

“We just had to focus on winning each point. We wanted to get it done quickly so it was important to win that game.” Gabby added.

England’s Mr Reliable broke down in the next game, as Chong Wei Feng (pictured right) took the men’s singles in three.

There was a lot of pressure on Chong, “I knew Malaysia was trailing so I had to win. It was very tight and the shuttle condition was very slow.”

Both Chong and Ouseph pinpointed the moment the game changed, “I was tired, trying to stay composed as it was a crucial game. The last half of the third set I lost control, it was difficult to come back when he got to 20.”

The mens’ doubles saw some controversy as the English pair was particularly incensed at what, on replay looked to be some very poor calls. The winner is he who wins the most points on the day though, and Goh and Tan (pictured left) did just that in a close encounter.

“I’ve not played them as a pair before, but we know Chris from our junior days.” Said Wei Shem. “They are very good opponents, but Chris seems tired maybe from earlier.”

Asked of the line calls, Tan was non committal, “We didn’t know about them because they were on the other side of the court, but we have to believe and trust in the line judges.”

Sarah Walker was thus required to play where she had been surplus to requirements in the semis, but Tee Jing Yi (pictured right) returned to form after her indifferent semi final appearance, as she won gold for Malaysia.

“In this match, our team already had two wins so there was not so much pressure. I just tried to do my best, but even if I lost, my teammates would still have done the job for Malaysia.” Said Tee Jing Yi.

She continued, “Some people think that after Wong Mew Choo left, and with Lee Chong Wei not here we weren’t as good. But we just tried to prepare better by ourselves, play our best and have fun, and now we’ve won.”

The younger members of the Malaysia team are often criticised at home media for choking in the big games, but despite Chong Wei Feng’s reluctance to say this reputation had past, as he quipped after his match: “It’s not finished yet. For sure controlling the mental side will be what is important for us.”

In this match, the team performed as required as Malaysia continued their recent dominance of the Commonwealth Games.

The full results for the Gold Medal Match can be found here.