Joy and Agony

As soon as I got to Wembley Arena last Sunday to watch Lee Chong Wei battle it out against Lin Dan, I couldn't believe the atmosphere, it was unbelievable. The people on TV keep bandying the word 'phenomenal' to describe the atmosphere, and they really are correct. There's no other word that can describe how it feels like to be a part of it.

She has lots of flags!

I was hoping that I might be able to borrow a Malaysian flag from someone there. Luckily when I got in, two rows down there were these two guys with a flag each, so I pounced on them :P I ended up with this massive flag that's meant to be held by 6 people!

Us with the massive flag, the top-down ones you drop down the side of a building.

Throughout the match, it wasn't just a duel of badminton prowess between the two athletes; it was also a battle of vocals between the two camps. The noise was deafening! At every point scored, and in between each rally, supporters from both sides would be shouting at the top of our lungs. Us Malaysians would alternate between "Malaysia BO-LEH!" and "Lee Chong Wei, Lee Chong Wei", whilst the Chinese would retaliate with "Lin Dan Chaiyok!" and if I'm completely honest, I think we were totally outdone by the Chinese - they're so loud!!

When Lee Chong Wei was up by 19-18 in the rubber game, the whole Malaysian camp went wild. I think it was only at that point when I actually considered that we *may* actually do this, we might just get GOLD! Alas, as the wise Bane from Dark Knight Rises says, "there can be no true despair without hope". When Lin Dan screamed with joy at winning his 2nd successive gold medal, it was such a painful moment for me, especially when Lee Chong Wei slumped and cried :'(

We're so proud of you :')

There's a lot of debate about our chances of getting an Olympic gold medal now, considering Malaysia's over-reliance on the same athletes. All of our other athletes have fizzled out at the moment, and Lee Chong Wei had claimed that this was his last Olympics. He has now done a U-turn and says that if his physical condition allows for it, then he might give it a shot. He's also committed to developing future world-class badminton players, which should bode well for our future Olympic quests. For now, we'll just have to be thankful that Lee Chong Wei's around so that our London 2012 entourage doesn't return completely empty handed!