Coach vows to fix mental game after King's Cup sepak takraw defeat
Ahmad Jais said his players lacked belief and failed to take advantage of their opportunities, allowing Thailand to dictate the pace of the match.
"The players did not perform up to expectations in the final. They didn't capitalise when they took the lead, which allowed the Thais to catch up and pile on the pressure.
"That's something we'll need to fix ahead of the SEA Games at the end of the year," he told Bernama.
Malaysia were beaten 2-0 by arch-rivals Thailand in the final.
The first regu of Noraizat Nordin, Haziq Hairul Nizam and Norfaizzul Razak lost 15-12, 15-12 to the Thai trio led by Pornthep Tinbangbon.
The second regu of Syahir Rosdi, Azlan Alias and Farhan Adam also failed to extend the contest, falling 17-16, 15-4 to Siriwat Sakha, Thawisak Thongsai and Rachan Viphan.
The defeat means Malaysia's 34-year wait for a win in the team regu event continues, their last triumph coming at the 1991 SEA Games in Manila.
Ahmad Jais, however, is not hitting the panic button, noting that the team had limited preparation for the Thai King's Cup.
He now plans to devise a better strategy for the SEA Games, which will be held in Thailand from Dec 9-20.
"We only had a week to prepare the team for this tournament. That said, I don't want to use that as an excuse for the underwhelming performance.
"We'll carry out a full post-mortem as we prepare for the SEA Games," he said. - BERNAMA
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