National shuttlers once again failed to bring home a gold medal after losing 1-3 to rivals Indonesia and had to settle for the silver in the men’s team final at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games here today.

First singles player Leong Jun Hao, ranked 64th in the world, got the ball rolling for Malaysia as he took just 31 minutes to pull off an upset over world No 19 Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, winning 21-16, 21-13 at the Morodok Techo Badminton Hall.

However, their defeat in the opening match did not break the spirit of the Indonesians who staged a comeback in the next three matches.

The 2022 All England men’s doubles champions, Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana inspired Indonesia’s comeback as they got past the national men’s pair of Beh Chun Meng-Goh Boon Zhe 21-12, 22-20 to level the score at 1-1.

Christian Adinata then gave Indonesia the lead for the first time in the contest as he outclassed Malaysia’s second singles player Lee Shun Yang 21-17, 21-9.

Despite taking the first game of the fourth match 21-13, the second men’s doubles pair of Chia Weijie-Liew Xun then crumbled in the final two games against Pramudya Kusumuwardana-Yeremia Erich Yoche Rambitan 16-21, 16-21 as the Indonesians sealed the gold medal point in a 50-minute battle.

While the Indonesian shuttlers celebrated their 18th gold medal in their SEA Games event participation, the Malaysian pair could only wonder what else they could have done to end their gold medal drought.

When met after the match, Weijie admitted they had tried their best to salvage Malaysia’s hopes and drag the game into a decider but to no avail.

He said Pramudya-Yeremia were clearly better than them especially in handling pressure on the court.

“I think they are more experienced than us and I admit that our opponents played better than us today,” he told reporters.

However, Weijie vowed to come back stronger and believes there will be a close fight against Pramudya-Yeremia should they lock horns again in the individual event.