SELBATC: Malaysia women's team lacked self-belief in Indonesia defeat

It was a poor performance by the contingent, who were outclassed by their opponents who came to this team meet without their strongest line-up that excluded Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (women’s singles) & Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia (women’s doubles).

“Indonesia did not come with their strongest team, so it should have been an equal contest on paper. But our players didn’t give enough of a fight to make it a contest, they simply didn’t have the self-belief.

“It was a missed opportunity, we wanted them to give their absolute best on court,” Rexy lamented.

Of the three defeats, Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah's loss was the most disappointing.

The Malaysian pair lost 14-21, 21-18, 15-21 against Lanny Tria-Ribka Sugiarto in a performance that reeked of confidence.

Especially in the third game, Tan-Thinaah simply allowed their opponents to attack at will and their desperate defending was shocking to see.

Rexy highlighted their shortcoming and called it self negative.

“Pearly-Thinaah admitted they didn’t play well. They started slow, their movements were laboured and they made a lot of mistakes.

“Thinaah especially was negative in her play and the Indonesians kept pressuring her. For instance when they smashed there was no follow-up, and when they defended it looked negative rather than to fight and take the initiative,” he added.

Tan-Thinaah’s defeat gave Indonesia a 2-0 lead.

In the first match, first singles K. Letshaana lost 12-21, 21-18, 13-21 against Putri Kusuma Wardani, and Wong Ling Ching confirmed the host’s early exit in the second singles.

This loss also means the women’s team failed to secure a berth to the Uber Cup in April as the top four teams from the BATC.