PHNOM PENH: The national sepak takraw squad missed out on the gold medal again after losing 1-2 to Indonesia in the men’s doubles final at the 2023 SEA Games here today.
The game was a repeat of last year’s in Hanoi, Vietnam where Indonesia had also forced the squad to settle for a silver medal.
In the intense match at the NSTC Basketball Hall, the Malaysian pairing of Aidil Aiman Azwawi and Nor Aizat Nordin with Hafizul Hayazi Adnan as the reserve, started well when they won 21-16 in the first set.
But they failed to maintain the momentum and lost 16-21.
In the decider, the team went down 13-21 in a match that lasted about an hour and a half.
Commenting on today’s match, Nor Aizat admitted to being disappointed for failing to make amends for the defeat at the Games in Hanoi.
However, he was grateful for the silver medal and promised to perform better at the next tournament
“In the first set, we were lucky to win but in the second we lost our focus, (our) serving and striking (libasan) didn’t even work. That is the reason for our defeat to Indonesia today.
Meanwhile, Aidil said the national team had tried as hard as possible to get the gold medal, but luck was not on their side.
So far, the national men’s squad have won three silver medals, in the team event, doubles and chinlone (same stroke) and two bronze medals through chinlone (non repetition and linking).
Tomorrow, the national team will go into action in the last sepak takraw event – the inter-regu category.
A gold medal in the sepak takraw men’s doubles and chinlone was the target for the Malaysian Sepaktakraw Association (PSM) at the 2023 SEA Games.