So I spent most of my Sunday afternoon hanging out with Viktor Axelsen, Tai Tzu Ying, Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong. Not that I’m name dropping or anything.
Okay so maybe, “hanging out” is a bit of stretch. But I got pretty close! After months of anticipation the Perodua Malaysia Masters presented by Daihatsu came to life at the Axiata Arena. The arena was full of life, making no mistake that there’s only one mission here today - for the players to take home a slice of that USD350,000 prize money and for us fans to give them our full support.
With Daihatsu as a sponsor this year, the tournament has been given new life. Not only is the cash prize bigger, but the branding both in and out of the stadium plus the way the matches are presented make the tournament feel much more prestigious than ever before.
My favourite part of the day was probably when Viktor Axelsen ran around the stadium with his shirt off after beating Kenta Nishimoto in the Men Singles category. The pure joy from him and the supportive home and visiting fans was electrifying! Aside from the Jalur Gemilang, it was nice to see fans from the other countries represented like Denmark, China and Japan waving their flags around the arena as well.
Probably the only disappointing part of the day was when our Men's Doubles team of V Shem-Wee Kiong lost in the finals to Indonesia after a considerable lead. However they gave it their best shot, and it was still a pleasure watching them play live right in front of me. Big, big thank you to Daihatsu for inviting me to the Malaysia Masters and their hospitality.
I even got to take a photo with this cute Myvi signed by all the players during the tournament. Overall a stunning debut for this partnership between Daihatsu and the Badminton Association of Malaysia. Can't wait to see what else this collaboration will produce. See you next year hopefully!
xo Reem