Achievement

GLORIES OF MALAYSIA BADMINTON

 Our legendary sportsmen who have excelled in the court, in leading is Datuk Punch Gunalan, reputed to be among the best combination badminton doubles and singles players for Malaysia at that time. Punch was gifted right-handed. In 1970, he presented Malaysia for prestigious Thomas Cup championship while Malaysia as a host that took place in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia faced badminton rivals, Indonesia in the final and Punch played in the first singles, as well as the second singles as match. He also paired up with Ng Boon Bee in the second doubles and provided one point for Malaysia. In 1997, Punch and Boon Bee, both were leading men's double team in the world, winning the prestigious All England title, and also the Danish, Canadian and U.S. Open titles.

     Another achievement we had obtained is from a talented badminton's player, Datuk Misbun Sidek. He is the eldest of the famous Sidek brothers and has won several major world titles. Among his achievements were clinching the gold medal in the 1981 SEA Games in Manilla and help steer the national team to a second spot placing in the 1988 Thomas Cup. In 1981, he was also appointed as a Sportsman of the year. His last involvements in International outing was in 2002 at the World Master Games in Melbourne. Misbun's siblings were actively involved in Badminton sport at one time. He was coaching All England champion and reigning world No.1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei at that time, until he resigned from Badminton Association Malaysia (BAM). In 2009, he was named Coach of the Year by The National Sports Council.

     Foo Kok Keong, who has experiences played with Misbun was rated as among the world's best singles players from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. he was noted for his speed, great stamina and his never say die attitude and tenacity. he played in 1990 Thomas Cup where Malaysia lost to the China in finals and also the team which defeated Indonesia for the World Championships in 1992.

     Recently, Malaysia has 'super hero' in badminton games which is known as world No.2, Datuk Lee Chong Wei. Lee known best for his excellent style of playing in front of the net with the rapid speed from him, he could serve back the shuttlecock to the opponent that can make rivals stutter. Before this, he was in the first world ranking. However, he was beat by currently world no.1 player, Lin Dan from China. Lee picked up on the title in 2002 and 2003, the major achievement being, reaching the final of the 2003 Malaysia Open, his first final of a major tournament, where he defeated by Chen Hong. Lee than succeed in the Malaysian Open and Chinese Taipei Open. Lee scored another two titles in 2005, his second Malaysian Open and Denmark Open. Lee won three titles out of six finals in 2006. he was crowned as the winner of the Swiss Open, Asian badminton Championships and his third Malaysia Open title. He also reached the final of the Chinese Taipei Open, Macau Open and Hong Kong Open. Lee won Malaysia's two gold medals in both men's singles and mixed team event. He reaches top spot twice in Badminton World Federation's world rankings in 2006 and he participated in the World Championships as top seed. Lastly, Lee is a silver medalist in both 2012 Olympic and 2008 Olympic Games, thus becoming the first Malaysian to reach the final of the men's singles event and ending Malaysia's Olympic medal drought since the 1996 games.

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