Although they were not considered the main contenders for gold, the agility of Seah Jing Ying, Wong Zin and Yow Mei Yee impressed the judges enough to earn them 8.560 points in the final.

They edged out their closest rivals from Thailand – Chonlakorn Chayawatto, Chutikarn Lapnitayapan and Ratchadawan Tapaenthong – who collected 8.450 points to settle for silver.

Jing Ying said they did not expect to deliver the squad’s first gold medal, especially as they were overwhelmed by nerves in competing against the hosts, who enjoyed strong crowd support at the venue.

She said the controversy earlier today involving teammates Jason Loo and Nur Humaira Abdul Karim in the recognised mixed pair poomsae event did not affect their focus in the final.

“We still focused on ourselves because we didn’t want to be disturbed by other things,” Bernama quoted her as saying.

The judges’ decision to award Thailand’s Chonlakorn Chayawatto and Thana Kiewailerd their quarter-final match against Jason and Nur Humaira left the Malaysian contingent disappointed.

Both pairs had been tied on 8.460 points.

Malaysia protested the decision but the judges upheld their verdict.