Even fewer had them pegged to reach the finals, coming just a hair's breadth away from capturing that elusive first-ever gold medal for Malaysia.
So, even though badminton mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying fell at the final hurdle to Indonesia's Ahmad Tontowi and Liliyana Natsir, they deserve to be celebrated for the silver medal they bring home to Malaysia.
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That's the consensus among Malaysian fans, based on the outpouring of well wishes and compliments heaped on the duo on social media, following their finals match early this morning.
Positive comments totally drowned out criticism by cynics, who were most likely too overcome by the disappointment of not being able to finally hear 'Negaraku' being played at an Olympic Games venue.
Making the duo's achievement in Rio even more of a fairy tale, was the backstory on Liu Ying shared by Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin.
Interestingly, many fans, most notably from Indonesia, seemed more preoccupied with Liu Ying who sported an 'ombre' ponytail for the finals.
Malaysia is still potentially in contention for three gold medals in Rio, through Datuk Lee Chong Wei in the men's singles, and Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong in the men's doubles, and divers Pandalela Rinong - Nur Dhabitah Sabri.
Malaysia is still potentially in contention for three gold medals in Rio, through Datuk Lee Chong Wei in the men's singles, and Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong in the men's doubles, and divers Pandalela Rinong - Nur Dhabitah Sabri.
