KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Malaysia’s badminton mixed doubles pair Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon did not let the country down by bagging the Olympic silver at the Rio Games last night, MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai declared today.

The transport minister said he had been following negative comments about the duo and lashed out at their critics, expressing deep disappointment that there were countrymen who would dismiss the badminton duo’s historic achievement, especially when they managed to unite Malaysians of all racial, religious barriers through the sports.

“It is surely not true that they let down Malaysians by not winning the gold medal.

“It’s the media concerned who let themselves down with their unrealistic and negative expectations,” he was quoted saying in a statement to MCA-owned news portal The Star Online.

Goh-Chan lost 21-14, 21-12 to the Indonesian pair of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, seeded world number three. It was the first time in Malaysian history that the mixed doubles had reached the finals in the Olympic Games, but several dailies had expressed disappointment that the duo failed to take the gold.

The coverage drew backlash from readers who rained scorn on the newspapers on social media.

Liow said he had been following the comments on Facebook and was glad that readers had been upset with such slants.

“Our badminton team has managed to unite the entire country. All Malaysians regardless of their races and religions are behind our team,” he was quoted saying.

He also lauded national cyclist Azizulhasni Awang for his bronze medal in the keirin event, and said the MCA will be rewarding Goh, Chan, and Azizulhasni for their accomplishment.

“They are the epitome of the grit Malaysian Boleh spirit,” he added.

Liow called on Malaysians to unite and be positive and supportive as the Olympics has still not ended.

In a similar vein, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Khairy Jamaluddin also chided the Goh-Chan pair’s critics and called on Malaysians to look positively at the achievements of the athletes.

“3 more days left of Rio2016. Only #PositiveVibes for our heroes please! No more “sekadar2” all. Just semangat. Let’s believe. #MalaysiaBoleh,” he posted on his Twitter accounts using the handle @Khairykj.

Malaysia have waited 52 years for an Olympic gold and had hoped to break the drought last night.

But Malaysia will still have more shots at the gold.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei will be facing off against China’s Lin Dan in the badminton men’s singles semi-finals at 7.30 pm tomorrow, and Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong will vie for gold against China’s Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan in the men’s doubles finals at 10.50 pm (Malaysian time) tomorrow.

Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri will be contending in the women’s 10m platform semi-final event tonight to be telecasted live at 9 pm Malaysian time.