M'sia fails to end gold drought in men's badminton team final

The national men’s badminton squad fails to end the 14-year gold medal drought in the team event after losing 1-3 to Indonesia in the final of the 30th SEA Games at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Manila today.

The loss saw the same script at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games two years ago repeating itself when Malaysia succumbed 0-3 to the same opponents in the final stage.

In the first match, singles player Lee Zii Jia, the world number 14, failed to contribute the first point after losing to Jonathan Christie, who is ranked sixth in the world.

The 21-year-old Lee lost 9-21, 17-21.

The national doubles pair of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik revived the Malaysians’ hope by defeating Fajar Alfian-Muhamad Rian Ardianto to make it 1-1.

The powerful smashes and fast game exhibited by Chia and Soh could not be matched by the Indonesian opponents, with the Malaysian pair winning 21-17, 21-13.

The excellent fightback, however, could not be continued by the second singles player Soong Joo Ven, who went down in three games to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.

Despite taking the first game 21-13, the 24-year-old national player lost his rhythm in the subsequent sets, losing 15-21, 18-21.

The second national doubles pair of Teo Ee Yi-Ong Yew Sin could not prevent the Indonesians from bagging the gold medal after going down 16-21, 19-21 to Wahyu Nayaka-Ade Yusuf Santoso.

The last time the Malaysian men’s team had bagged the badminton team gold was in 2005, when the Games was also held in Manila.

The bronze medal in the men’s team event went jointly to the Thailand and Singapore teams.

- Bernama