BANGKOK, Dec 10 (Bernama) -- National singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen believes Malaysia’s strong desire to win may have worked against them in the men’s badminton team final as they fell to arch rivals Indonesia, 0-3 at the SEA Games Thailand 2025, in Pathum Thani today.
He said the players struggled to strike the right balance between passion and composure, allowing emotions to affect their tactical clarity and decision-making on court at Gymnasium 4, Thammasat University Rangsit Campus.
“I just have to digest today’s defeat; it hurts quite a lot. I think their desire (to win gold) is also why we may not have played our best today. So, this is the desire we need to be able to handle.
“Of course, you go into a final wanting to win, but you cannot allow your emotions to take control and cloud the clarity of how you are supposed to play the game,” he told reporters after the final.
In some sense, the 50-year-old said he got a clear answer that there was a lot to be done if they intend to challenge next year’s Thomas Cup, to be held in Horsens, Denmark, from April 23 to May 3.
On men's first singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao’s performance, Jonassen felt that the former was too rushed despite leading quite comfortably in the second set, but the world No. 28’s eagerness took a toll on him, allowing Alwi Farhan to stage a comeback and seal the first point for Indonesia.
He said that men's second singles Justin Hoh made too many mistakes and was unable to recover after the world No. 38 got trapped in Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah’s play.
Jun Hao went down to Alwi 12-21, 19-21, while Justin lost 12-21, 14-21 to Moh. Zaki.
In the meantime, national men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi was clearly gutted to see the 2022 men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik being outperformed 12-21, 12-21 by world No. 8 Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani.
Herry said Aaron-Wooi Yik, as the world No. 2 duo, should play much better against the lower-ranked opponent.
With the defeat, Malaysia failed to end a two-decade gold medal search in the aforementioned event, which was last won in the 2005 edition in the Philippines.
The SEA Games Thailand 2025 is taking place from Dec 9 to 20 across two provinces -- Bangkok and Chonburi.
-- BERNAMA
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