PARIS - Mixed doubles player Chen Tang Jie was in tears after he and his partner, Toh Ee Wei, were eliminated in the quarter-finals, marking the end of Malaysia's fifth day at the Paris 2024 Olympics yesterday.
The pair, ranked ninth in the world and competing in their first Olympics, suffered a 19-21, 14-21 loss to South Korea's Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
Earlier, Ee Wei suffered a fall early in the match, forcing her to wear a back support brace and play through the pain.
Meanwhile, professional men's singles player Lee Zii Jia comfortably advanced from Group G with a 21-10, 21-13 victory over Spain's Pablo Abian, who is competing in his fifth Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games.
In the round of 16 on Thursday, Zii Jia will face top French player Toma Junior Popov for a place in the quarter-finals.
With the support of his home crowd, Popov delivered a major upset by defeating Indonesia's world number nine Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-19, 17-21, 21-15 to top Group H and advance to the knockout stage.
However, it was a different story for national women's singles player Goh Jin Wei, who was eliminated in the knockout stage after losing 17-21, 22-20, 21-23 to South Korea's Kim Ga Eun.
Elsewhere, recurve archer Ariana Nur Diana Mohamad Zairi almost caused a shock by nearly defeating 2022 world champion Chiara Rebagliati of Italy before losing in a shoot-off at the Invalides.
In the 1/32 elimination round of the women's individual event, both archers were tied at 5-5. Ariana Nur Diana ultimately lost 5-6 after scoring 9 points, while Rebagliati secured victory with a perfect 10 in the decisive arrow.
Another Malaysian archer, Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil, who was set to compete against Turkey's Elif Berra Gokkir in another 1/32 elimination match this afternoon, will now have to wait until Thursday night.
The tie was postponed after severe weather conditions, including thunderstorms, were forecast, which delayed six 1/32 and 1/16 elimination rounds scheduled for after 7 pm (1 am Thursday in Malaysia) by 24 hours.
Malaysia's challenge on Thursday will remain at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena with two more doubles quarter-final matches, in addition to Zii Jia's.
Men's doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik will face Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty from India, while women's doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah will take on South Koreans and Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong for a place in the semi-finals.
Also on Thursday, two other sports will kick off their campaigns for Malaysia; golf at Le Golf National and sailing at Marina Marseille, approximately 700km from here.
Top Malaysian golfer Gavin Kyle Green will compete in the first round of the men's individual event, while sailors Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy and Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif will each compete in the first two races of the ILCA 7 men's single-handed dinghy and ILCA 6 women's single-handed dinghy events, respectively. - BERNAMA