The dream of Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong of winning a medal at the London Olympics went up in smoke as they were defeated byChung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae 23-21, 21-10 in the bronze medal playoff at the Wembley Arena.
And it all boiled down to their inability to finish off their opponents in the first set where they took a 19-13 lead. But it was a case of two points too far as they succumbed under the Korean onslaught to lose the set 23-21. In the second they had no answer, beaten both mentally and physically.
"It was our mistake and we blew it. That was the turning point of the match as we thought we had the first set wrapped up. Somehow our concentration slipped and we just could not get back into the game," said Koo.
It was a costly defeat as they missed out on the RM150,000 incentive by the government as well as the monthly pension scheme of RM1,500 each.
Playing well until the collapse, the Malaysian pair were guilty of trying to rush their shots. And their defensive game also was in shambles.
