Malaysia's interest at the Badminton Asia Championships ended on Friday after defending champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik lost in the quarter-finals.
The second seeds bowed out after a 14-21, 28-26, 13-21 defeat against South Korean pair Kang Min-hyuk-Ki Dong-ju in the final match of the day.
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Before that, national women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah succumbed to a 13-21, 15-21 defeat against Chinese pair Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min.
The world number two Malaysians were far from their best and lost tamely after conceding too many unforced errors throughout the 41-minute contest.
In the morning match, top national mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also lost in straight games.
These losses will be concerning to the national coaches, with three of the country's top pairs all losing on the same day.
Chia-Soh faced a pair who were calm in defence and quick to exploit the gaps the Malaysians afforded them.
Kang-Ki cruised in both the first and deciding games, leaving Chia-Soh to exit the competition with a whimper.
It was a far cry from their performance last year where they won all their matches on straight games on their way to lifting the trophy.
