Malaysia missed out on a SEA Games gold medal after mixed doubles pair Yap Roy King-Cheng Su Yin lost 22-20, 8-21, 16-21 against Indonesian top seeds Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu in the final on Tuesday.

Their defeat also meant the national badminton contingent would return home without a gold medal in the individual events for the first time in a decade.

Not just that, the target set by the Badminton Association of Malaysia to win at least one gold medal at this multi-sports Games also dissipated.

The Malaysians took the lead in the first game but made it hard on themselves as they allowed the Indonesians back into it towards the end.

A 20-18 lead evaporated to force deuce, but Yap-Cheng applied the pressure to cross the line at 22-20.

But it was never going to be a straightforward affair against the feisty top seeds, who returned invigorated in the second game to take a commanding 8-0 lead.

The Malaysians were rattled as the Indonesians kept coming at them to force the errors for the 21-8 win to take the tie to a decider.

It was a closer fight between both pairs as expected, but the Indonesians were still on top thanks to Lisa who was edging the front court battle against Cheng.

Despite initially doing well to turn a 7-11 deficit in their favour, Yap-Cheng started to wilt under pressure from the Indonesians who grew in confidence to seal the victory.

Questions will be asked from the national body, who saw exits from Academy Badminton of Malaysia high ranking officials Michelle Chai and Dr. Tim Jones following the the women’s team's disastrous performance last week.

Serve pelik? Spin serve maybe? ?

Tough luck Yap Roy King-Cheng Su Yin tewas kepada ranking 10 dunia,Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu 22-20,8-21,16-21@ASTROARENA pic.twitter.com/ZWQmhTIr6s
— wan muiz (@muiz_aziz07) May 16, 2023