Norza beaming after shuttlers help Malaysia surpass overall gold target

of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria hailed the performances of Lee Chong Wei and Chow Mei Kuan-Vivian Hoo yesterday as they contributed a gold medal each to help Malaysia surpass their overall Commonwealth Games target.

However, Norza is disappointed with men’s doubles Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and mixed doubles Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie for failing to deliver despite being top seeded in their events.

Malaysia bettered the 2014 Glasgow haul (6-7-6) by winning seven gold, five silver and 12 bronze medals, thanks to badminton although the sport did not achieve BAM’s target of three gold.

Badminton contributed two gold, one silver and two bronze at the Gold Coast Games.

“We did not achieve our target, but the sport certainly contributed to Malaysia’s target,” said Norza.

“Chong Wei and Mei Kuan-Vivian performed with pressure on badminton to deliver.

“Chong Wei is a player who has never disappointed us and he is our role model while Mei KuanVivian were not even seeded.

“However, I am disappointed with V Shem-Wee Kiong and Soon Huat-Shevon. They let us down. Soon Huat-Shevon have been erratic since the All England and they need to do some soul searching.

“We fielded two pairs in mixed doubles in Soon Huat-Shevon and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying in a move to pressure other countries, but they did not do well. V Shem-Wee Kiong were just overconfident.

“I will have a coaching and training committee meeting when I get back, and we will look at areas that we can improve on.

“Our gold was also supposed to come from the mixed team. However, India, as the top seeds, played well. It is a reflection of how well they have progressed.”

Norza has also informed national singles coach Misbun Sidek and doubles coach Cheah Soon Kit to start preparing for the Thomas Cup next month.

“We still need Chong Wei to rally us on. Lee Zii Jia and Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, the other shuttlers in the team, did not do well in the China Masters.

“Indonesian doubles coach Paulus Firman was supposed to join us but he is still in the Philippines. He has signed a contract with us.”