Badminton Tournament - Macau Open

THE GREAT MASTER WONG

Wong Choong Hann was injured. Flashes of the gruesome Achilles tendon injury came back to me as I watched him agonise in pain as Malaysians around the world prayed. Still the fighter refused to give up. Instead of giving a standard walkover, he fought on. He pushed on and won the second game to level the games one all, although he was at serious disadvantage - he couldn't stretch his left leg. Refusing the give up the third game while trailing 7-11 at the interval, he took 6 points in a row to make it 16-12. Finally at matchpoint 20-18, he failed to close up, distracted by Chen Jin's slipping.

Obviously disadvantaged by his injury, Wong Choong Hann's lost today proved only one thing - Wong is a true Malaysian hero. He battled and battled, finally succumbing to the fresher Chen who yesterday, got a walkover from Chen Hong. In my opinion, the true winner of this match is Wong Choong Hann. He has earned my respect, along with thousands of worldwide fans. Sure, it would have been nice if he'd won this game, but the manner of which Wong carried on in his games; anything less than a legend would not describe him. His fighting spirit reminded me of the great Foo Kok Keong. This man is a fighter.

A tribute to Wong. A true Malaysian Hero. A true Malaysian fighter. A true Malaysian legend. A true Malaysian. Wong Choong Hann.