Lee Shun Yang shakes hands with Indonesia's Christian Adinata after losing his match at Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,. — GLENN GUAN/The Star
PHNOM PENH: An 18-year wait for the men's team gold continued as the shuttlers led by Leong Jun Hao went down 1-3 to archrivals Indonesia in the final at the SEA Games in Cambodia on Thursday (May 11).
Malaysia last won the team gold at the 2005 edition in Manila.
World No. 64 Jun Hao gave the team a great start after stunning world No. 19 Chico Aura 21-16, 21-13 at the Morodok Techo badminton hall in Phnom Penh but the others could not follow through.
Youngsters Beh Chun Meng-Goh Boon Zhe, ranked 76th in the world, gave a good account of themselves before going down 12-21, 20-22 to world No. 14 and last year’s All-England champions Mohd Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana.
Hope was on world No. 95 Lee Shun Yang to try and upset Christian Adinata but instead, he lost tamely 17-21, 9-21 to hand Indonesia a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Chia Weijie-Liew Xun fought hard to save the tie for Malaysia in the second doubles but narrowly went down 21-13, 16-21, 16-21 to Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan.
The Indonesian went on to celebrate their 18th SEA Games team title.
