A Malaysian badminton coach has been hailed online for his display of sportsmanship after loaning his shoes to a Jamaican player during a match.
While competing against Ng Tze Yong at the Commonwealth Games 2022 between Jamaica and Malaysia, Jamaican badminton player Samuel Ricketts’ shoes were badly damaged.
A video posted to Twitter on Saturday shows the moment of sportsmanship when Malaysia’s badminton coach Hendrawan walking over and loaning his shoes to Ricketts. As the crowd cheered, Ricketts put on the shoes and continued his match with Ng. He eventually lost by a 21-12, 21-16 margin.
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Ricketts continued to borrow the shoes for his doubles match later in the day where he partnered with fellow Jamaican player Joel Angus and played against Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi-yik. Ricketts and Angus were defeated 21-7, 21-11.
Twitter users praised Hendrawan and Ricketts for the gesture and true showing of sportsmanship.
“Thank you coach Hendrawan. You teach us [that] sportsmanship is greater than winning a medal,” one user wrote.
“An excellent display of sportsmanspirit and good human gestures. Kudos to the opposition coach for showing a great value system and inspiring others,” Indian weightlifter Karnam Malleswari wrote.
While the moment was a win for sportsmanship, Jamaica was eventually unable to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Featured Image: Twitter
