Kuala Lumpur:
This Wednesday, as men’s singles player Lee Zii jia and the men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik returned home from the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was brimming with fans awaiting their heroes with a warm welcome.
Although they didn’t win any gold medals, the performance of these three individuals was still of high quality for Malaysia, having surpassed their Tokyo Olympics performance by winning two bronze medals collectively.
This was a very satisfying result for Malaysian fans, and on Wednesday, roughly 200 fans, media, staff, and officials welcomed the athletes in the KLIA arrival hall. They walked out of their arrivals together at around 9:15 AM and were greeted by an extremely enthusiastic crowd ready to congratulate their heroes. Many supporters, specifically those for Lee Zii Jia, came prepared with flowers and posters celebrating his bronze medal win.
However, beyond these three brilliant players, other members of the Malaysian team were present, including the women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, Badminton Academy Malaysia (BAM) coaching director, Rexy Mainaky, Lee Zii Jia’s coach Wong Tat Meng, men’s doubles coach Tan Bin Shen, women’s doubles coach Hoon Thien How, and mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto. They also received flowers and other celebrations during the welcoming ceremony. They received flowers and commemorative items during the welcome ceremony.
Other Malaysian national players including men’s doubles Goh Sze Fei, Nur Izzuddin and women’s doubles player Teoh Mei Xin, were at the airport around 6 AM, welcoming their returning teammates. Lee Zii Jia’s father and Thinaah Muralitharan’s brother also made notable appearances to welcome their family members home.
