Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir have defeated Malaysian pair Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, securing their first gold medal in the badminton mixed doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The world number three pairing won against the Malaysian duo in straight sets, 21-14 21-12, within 45 minutes.
“I feel speechless. I cannot say anything. I’m overwhelmed,” said Tontowi ecstatically.
“For this medal I would like to thank God, my family, my kids, my parents, the citizens of Indonesia, the coach and everyone who has been supporting us along the way,” he continued as quoted on the Olympics’ official website.
“I feel relieved, proud, happy; I don’t know anymore. It’s just an outstanding feeling,” his partner Natsir commented.
“Although I am experienced, I was very stressed and under pressure in the earlier points. I tried to relax and enjoy the game so we could go on and win it.”
While Malaysia settled for silver, the bronze medal went to China's Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, who were champions of the badminton mixed doubles, four years ago at the London Olympics.
(Photo sources: olympic.org)