Gold eludes Malaysia again in men’s team badminton at SEA Games

The national squad finishes second after 3-0 thrashing by Indonesia, just as it did in their last encounter two years ago.

World No 2 pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were a let-down as they lost easily to the lower-ranked duo Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Reza Pahlevi Isfahani. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 The Malaysian men’s badminton team put up a poor show to settle for the silver medal at the SEA Games in Bangkok, Thailand, after they were thrashed 3-0 by a strong Indonesian side.

The final was a repeat of the last SEA Games in Cambodia two years ago, where Malaysia were runners-up.

The Malaysian shuttlers were hoping to end the 20-year gold drought for the nation at the biennial games but fell to the favourites who were champions in seven of the last eight SEA Games.

Leong Jun Hao gave Malaysia a poor start in the opening singles tie when he lost easily to the higher-ranked Alwi Farhan 12-21, 19-21.

This was followed by the clash of the top men’s doubles pairs from both countries with Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik taking on Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Reza Pahlevi Isfahani.

World No 7 pair Sabar-Reza defeated the second-ranked Malaysians soundly with a score of 21-12, 21-12 to give Indonesia a 2-0 lead.

Malaysia’s second singles player Justin Hoh, who was left with the task of keeping the nation’s hopes alive, succumbed to the pressure and lost 12-21, 14-21 to Zaki Ubaidillah to give their rivals the winning point.

Malaysia had on Monday won the bronze medal in the women’s badminton team event as losing semi-finalists. - FMT