AZIZULHASNI Awang's silver is a celebration but also a reminder that we need to do more in sports. We need structure, deep networks to work the grassroots and diligent fail-safe policies. We also need people at the helm who aren't going to be swayed once things are ready for implementation.
Here's how the Malaysian athletes performed across every sport in the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
ARCHERY: C
IT was always going to be difficult to win medals in the sport. The archers, as expected, turned in a mixed bag of results in Tokyo.
Olympic newcomer Syaqiera Mashayikh posted a new personal best of 630 points in the women's ranking round to finish 43rd out of 64 archers at the Yumenoshima Park. She also erased Mon Redee Sut Txi's record of 626 achieved at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but she crashed out in the first round of the elimination stage.
In the men's recurve, Khairul Anuar Mohamad failed to emulate his quarter-final showing at the 2012 London Games by crashing out in the last 16 to South Korean Kim Woo Jin.
The archers, however, did their best but still fell short in a sport that needs mental fortitude. It's time for the National Archery Association of Malaysia and the National Sports Council to revamp their grassroots and national programmes.
ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS: C
Malaysian gymnasts are still not good enough to match the best in the world.
Farah Ann Abdul Hadi and Jeremiah Loo made their Olympic debuts in Tokyo, with no targets set for both gymnasts.
Despite not qualifying for the next stage, Farah Ann won over the nation through her dazzling smile. She was applauded for her efforts.
Jeremiah could not beat his personal best of 76.5 and finished last in the men's all-around.
More should be done to help the gymnasts make inroads in the sport, now dominated by the United States, Russia, China and Japan, ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.
ATHLETICS: C
IT was a tale of the shining young Azreen Nabila Alias and the disappointing triple Olympian Lee Hup Wei.
Azreen, 21, went to Tokyo to dip below 12 seconds and did just that by clocking 11.77s in the women's 100m qualifying round and then 11.91 in the heats.
Her previous best was 11.81, set at the 2018 Malaysia Games in Perak.
It was a valiant effort considering that she only had three weeks at the track in Bukit Jalil to prepare for the Games.
As for Hup Wei, many were expecting him to qualify for the high jump final. However, he could not even clear the starting mark of 2.17m in three attempts.
Malaysian Athletics Federation should pay special attention to young athletes and groom them accordingly for the future.
Malaysia used to produce Asian-level track and field athletes, but the days have long gone due to poor planning over the years.
BADMINTON: B+
THE national shuttlers did not equal their three-silver achievement from the 2016 Rio Olympics, but they still managed a commendable performance in Tokyo.
Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik were the stars when they clinched the men's doubles bronze.
Although men's singles Lee Zii Jia could not achieve a podium finish at the Games, the 23-year-old showed good quality and almost ousted eventual finalist Chen Long of China in the last 16. He definitely has the pedigree to be a future Olympic and world champion.
Soniia Cheah and Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean did decently but failed to make the next stage of the women's singles and doubles events.
The real deal is the Paris Olympics, as the BA of Malaysia have existing programmes to groom their shuttlers for the mission.
CYCLING: A
THOUGH he missed out on gold, Azizulhasni Awang (pic) did well to go one better than he did at Rio 2016. The Pocket Rocketman clinched the keirin silver in what was a peculiar final.
Australia's Matthew Glaetzer's reluctance to close down Britain's Jason Kenny's early attack left the rest of the field, including Azizulhasni, in a difficult situation. Azizulhasni still made the most of it and finished ahead of triple world champion Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands.
Shah Firdaus Sahrom was not at his best after a crash in the first round. A day after a medical assessment, Shah was ousted in the quarter-finals.
Cycling is one of the toughest sports to win Olympic medals, and Malaysia have proved that they are among the best in the world.
With up-and-coming track cyclists advancing through the ranks, they will be the ones to watch at the Paris Games.
DIVING: D
THE Tokyo campaign was a bust for the divers.
Although they are among the best in the world, they could not deliver a medal following the highs at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics.
Pandelela Rinong, the reigning World Cup champion, was out of sorts and unable to perform on the platform (women's 10m platform individual and synchro events).
Former world champion Cheong Jun Hoong also slipped in the platform individual, even failing to clear the preliminaries.
Nur Dhabitah Sabri salvaged some pride by finishing fourth in the 3m springboard event.
But it was nothing more than a scant consolation as her scores were nowhere close to challenging for a podium finish.
Plenty of work awaits Malaysia Swimming and National Sports Council as an ageing diving squad fall behind regional rivals like Japan and South Korea.
GOLF: C
Gavin Green and Kelly Tan were not at their best when they arrived in Tokyo.
Gavin, who plays in the PGA European Tour, struggled to perform in the men's event, finishing 57th overall.
Kelly, who plays in the LPGA Tour, carded a 29 on the back nine for a 64 total in the final round of the women's event.
It was the joint lowest score of the day, but her average opening rounds meant she could not finish on the podium.
She was without a coach and supported only by her caddie Dusty Lattery. Kelly hopes more support will be given to golfers in the build-up to the 2024 Olympics.
SAILING: C
THE national sailors had a fruitful outing at the Enoshima Bay as they did better than their 2016 Rio campaign.
Nur Shazrin Latif finished 26th in the laser radial, improving by seven rungs from Rio.
Seasoned-sailor Khairulnizam Afendy finished 28th in the laser class. In 2016 Rio, he had finished 35th.
Debutantes Nuraisyah Jamil and Juni Karimah were 19th from 21 teams in the women's 470.
It was a commendable finish, considering that the sailors did not compete and train overseas due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the performances of other sailors from Asia are a concern ahead of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
The emergence of Indian sailors Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan could spell trouble for Khairulnizam and Nur Shazrin, who are gold medal prospects at the Asian Games.
SHOOTING: D
IT was never going to be easy for Nur Suryani Taibi at the Olympics as the 38-year-old was ill-prepared for the mission due to lack of training and competition.
Furthermore, she had only received the wild card a month before the Games.
She finished 34th in the women's 50m rifle three-position, which was not an unexpected outcome.
The onus is on the National Shooting Association of Malaysia to unearth more shooters with talent for the future instead of solely relying on veterans.
SWIMMING: C
Phee Jinq En and Welson Sim were not expected to go beyond the heats of their events in Tokyo, and they did just that.
It shows that Malaysia still have a long way to go to reach world standards in the sport.
However, Jinq En deserves some credit for pushing herself to the limit in setting a new national record in the 100m breaststroke event with a time of 1:08.40.
She also set a season-best time of 2:32.57 in the 200m breaststroke, an event she hardly competes in.
Welson, on the other hand, was poor by any measure.
The Sarawakian has been struggling to recapture his form after an arm injury earlier this year.
But there can be no excuses for his performances in the 200m freestyle and 400m freestyle, where he was miles away from even his personal bests of 1:47.36s and 3:49.29s.