Manila: Malaysian badminton team capped a fantastic outing on Monday by winning the women’s singles, men’s singles and men’s doubles gold medals at the 2019 SEA Games badminton individual event finals that was held at Muntinlupa Sports Complex on Monday.
Winning both the women’s singles and men’s singles titles in the same SEA Games only happened to Malaysian badminton 46 years ago when Punch Gunalan and Sylvia Ng Meow Eng triumphed in the 1973 Singapore SEA Games respectively.
The World No. 104 unseeded Selvaduray Kisona of Malaysia showed her fighting spirit, rallying from dropping the first set to eventually beat Indonesia’s World No. 37 Ruselli Hartawan 20-22, 21-14, 21-13 in 67 minutes.
“My coaches and BAM didn’t set any target for me, they just want me to play my best. I want to thank them for believing in me,” said the 21-year-old Kisona who was drafted to replace defending champion Goh Jin Wei who still recovering from her stomach surgery.
Men’s singles No. 2 seed Lee Zii Jia also powered through his opponent from Singapore, the 22-year-old Loh Kean Yew 21-18, 21-18 to claim the men’s singles title.
“SEA Games is one of the major tournament besides Olympics and Asian Games,” said Lee.
“I feel like taking a break to release all the pressure after the victory,” added Lee.
Men’s doubles No. 2 seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik also ended Malaysia’s 16-year title drought in the SEA Games men’s doubles by overcoming Bodin Isara/Maneepong Jongjit of Thailand 18-21, 21-15, 21-16 for the gold.
Meanwhile, Indonesia concluded the final day of the individual event by clinching golds in mixed doubles and women’s doubles through Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti and Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu.
