Leading the Malaysian contingent out at the Olympic Games nations parade yesterday made Goh Liu Ying all the more determined to see the Jalur Gemilang fly high in badminton.
Liu Ying, who was the nation's female flag carrier at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, hopes she can make Malaysia proud again in the medal chase.
In 2016, she and Chan Peng Soon got Malaysia all excited by storming their way into the mixed doubles final. However, they had to settle for silver after going down 21-14, 21-12 to Indonesians Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir.
"It is my first time as the flag bearer, I felt a bit of pressure and was nervous even though this is my third Olympics," said Liu Ying yesterday.
"I think everything went well and I'm ready to give it my best when I get back on court.
"I definitely want to win a medal to add to my silver at the 2016 Olympics. But I don't want to feel too pressured about it but I will go all out."
Liu Ying, ranked eighth in the world with Peng Soon, are drawn in Group D with World No 3 Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping of China, Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet and Germany's Mark Lamsfuss-Isabel Herttrich. They open against the Hong Kong pair at 8.20pm (Malaysian time) today.
Meanwhile World No 11 Lee Meng Yean-Chow Mei Kuan skipped the opening ceremony to prepare for their first match today at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza.
The duo will take on Indonesia's World
No 6 Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu in Group A which also has World No 1 Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota of Japan and Great Britain's Chloe Birch-Lauren Smith.
"It is a pity we did not attend the opening ceremony as we have an important match today. But we did watch it on television," said Meng Yean.
"This is our first Olympics, we're going to give it our best shot and never give up until the end."
Also in action today are men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik who meet South Korea's Choi Solgyu-Seo Seung Jae in Group D.
BAM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria said: "I believe that the tough times of Covid-19 that they went through have strengthened them mentally and physically."
