SELANGOR ended a decade long drought by winning the Malaysia Games badminton men's team gold medal after a thrilling 3-2 win over Johor at the Pahang Sports Complex in Kuantan yesterday.
Selangor shuttlers celebrate after beating Johor 3-2 to win the Malaysia Games gold in Kuantan yesterday. Pic by Yazit Razali
The defeat was a double blow to Johor after their women's team were soundly beaten 3-0 by Federal Territories in the final.
The men's final was a case of singles players coming good in the doubles as Syawal Ismail and Nur Azriyn Ayup teamed up to deliver the winning point in the second doubles by beating Johor's own scratch combination of Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and an error-prone Tan Kian Meng 21-18, 21-17.
Coach K. Yogendran, who was part of the last Selangor winning team in 2002 along with Hafiz Hashim, was delighted with his players.
"It has been 10 years since Selangor last won the team title but I had a feeling we could do it here. Our strength lies in the singles but the players were united and showed great teamwork after training together for six months," said Yogendran.
Misbun Ramdan Misbun and Azriyn gave Selangor a flying 2-0 start beating Kian Meng 21-12, 21-17 and Aiman Husin 21-12, 21-13 respectively.
Iskandar gave Johor hope by beating Soong Joo Ven, who has just returned after finishing runner-up at the Asian Junior Championships, 21-16, 21-11 before Tan Wee Tat-Teo Ee Yi levelled the score with a 19-21, 21-15, 21-18 win over Kong Keat Zhean-Ramdan.
FT did not drop a single set in the women's final with Lim Yin Fun, Sonia Cheah and Chow Mei Kuan-Shevon Lai Jemie proving to be a cut above Yap Yee, Lim Chiew Sien and Tew Jia Jia-Yap Zhen.
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