The country’s young squad fought hard to tackle Thailand’s prowess as the team had to settle for a silver medal in the men’s team event of the 31st SEA Games at the Bac Giang Gymnasium in Bac Giang Province, about 140 km from here, yesterday.
After beating Singapore’s selected team in the semi-finals yesterday, the national back-up players failed to continue their winning streak when they lost 0-3 to Thailand.
Going down as the first singles, Jacky Kok Jing Hong lost easily 10-21, 15-21 to Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun’s pair also had to settle for an equalizer despite fierce opposition to Thai duo Chaloempon Charoenkitamorn-Nanthakarn Yordphaisong before losing 20-22, 20-22.
Lagging 0-2, Lee Shun Yang, who played as the second singles, showed a neat game in the first set when he recorded a 21-16 victory over Khosit Phetpradab.
However, in the second set and the determination of Shun Yang failed to show a consistent performance when they lost 13-21 and 19-21, thus Malaysia continued to miss the gold medal at the biennial games.
The silver medal achievement matched the results at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
Indonesia and Singapore shared the bronze medal after the two teams lost in the semi-finals, yesterday.
Meanwhile, Thailand also excelled in the women’s team event after beating Indonesia 3-0.
The bronze medals were won by the hosts, Vietnam and Singapore.
