The Malacca government today announced a RM50,000 incentive for Malaysia's mixed pair that won the badminton silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games early today.

Chief Minister Idris Haron said the money would be shared equally between Malacca-born Goh Liu Ying and her partner Chan Peng Soon, who hails from Penang.

Idris said the state government would also consider other incentives for the mixed doubles players.

"Congratulations to Liu Ying and Peng Soon for winning the silver medal, though we had hoped that they would win Malaysia's first Olympic gold medal," he told reporters after watching the live telecast of the match at his official residence in Malacca.

Peng Soon-Liu Ying went down 14-21, 12-21 to the world's third-ranked Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia.

"Watching the match, I realised that our players were under tremendous pressure," Idris said.

He also said that the state government would propose that Liu Ying be awarded the Bintang Cemerlang Melaka for having enhanced the image of Malacca and Malaysia on the international arena.

Meanwhile, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, announced that Liu Ying would be awarded RM25,000 as he congratulated the pair their silver.

Lim had earlier announced that RM100,000 would be awarded to Peng Soon.

"I thank the Malacca chief minister (Idris Haron) for also awarding the two players," he said in a Facebook posting.

- Bernama