RIO DE JANEIRO: The silver was won but Goh V Shem blamed himself for the gold that was not, after he and partner Tan Wee Kiong were beaten in the Rio Olympics men's doubles final by China's Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan on Friday.
The Malaysians twice held championship point - at 20-19 and 21-20 - only for the China pair to deny them at the death as World No 4 Haifeng-Zhang Na won 16-21, 21-11, 23-21 in 65 minutes at Pavilion 4, Riocentro.
"I wanted to keep it simple when we were holding championship point but instead, made mistakes. It is a wasted opportunity," said V Shem.
"It wasn't a case of nerves but more of a misjudgement which led to the mistakes."
Wee Kiong said it was a disappointing end to a superb campaign.
"We almost clinched the gold but were unlucky. It is disappointing but we have still done very well; to go home with the Olympic silver is something we didn't think was possible when we first started in Rio," said Wee Kiong.
Bronze was won by Britain's Marcus Ellis-Chris Langridge who beat China's Chai Biao-Hong Wei in the third-place playoff on Thursday.
The women's singles gold was won by Spain’s Carolina Marin, who beat P. V. Sindhu of India 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 in the final.
Bronze went to Japan's Nozomi Okuhara after China’s Li Xuerui conceded a walkover in the third-place playoff.