RIO DE JANEIRO: Shuttlers Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying made no excuses after settling for the Rio Olympics mixed doubles silver on Wednesday.
They lost, the Malaysians said, to opponents who were simply way better than them and there was nothing they could do to stop Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir at Pavilion 4, Riocentro.
The World No 3 Indonesians won 21-14, 21-12 in 42 minutes to win gold, four years after suffering the heartbreak of finishing fourth in the London Olympics.
"There was nothing that we could do as the Indonesians were in top form. Their determination to win was so great," said Liu Ying.
Peng Soon agreed.
"We had a game plan but the Indonesians had theirs too and obviously, they were superior to us.
"However, we are both happy to win the silver considering that we were glad to have just made the semi-finals," said Peng Soon.
There was no shame in defeat as the World No 11 played above expectations to make the final after failing to progress beyond the group stage in London four years ago.
China’s Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei, the 2012 Olympic champions, had beaten compatriots Xu Chen-Ma Jin on Tuesday in the bronze medal playoff.