Players need more big match experience, says BJKC captain
That is the view of national team captain Koay Hao Sheng who admitted that nerves were a factor for his team during the week-long tournament.
Fourth seeds Malaysia - represented by Elsa Wan Abdul Rahman (21 years old), Joleen Saw (18), Lim Zan Ning (20), Hannah Yip (22) and Iman Syuhada Abdullah (19) - lost 2-0 to second seeds Indonesia in their promotional playoff yesterday.
"I believe our players are good and can play (at this level of competition), it is just that in terms of experience they are still lacking," said Hao Sheng yesterday (June 21).
"They got a little bit tight during the big moments and were sometimes slow to settle into a match.
"Joleen came close to winning her singles match against Indonesia but her opponent just had that extra confidence in the final set which allowed her to take the match.
"People always say the host nation has an advantage but there is also pressure to win and expectations on the players shoulders.
"This (nerves) can be overcome if we can give our players more exposure to higher level competitive matches so they can get used to the pressure and handle such situations better in the future.
"If we can do that in the lead up to next year's BJKC, then we should have a better chance at promotion."
Top seeds Mongolia won their promotional playoff against the Philippines 2-0.
Malaysia had earlier finished second in group A behind Mongolia, which secured their spot in the playoffs and a top-four finish.
Malaysia had lost 3-0 to Mongolia but had beaten Kyrgyzstan 2-1, Singapore 3-0 and Northern Mariana Islands 3-0 during the group stage.
This is the second season in a row Malaysia has finished in the top-four.
The team scored a best-ever third place finish in Group II last year when the competition used a different two-stage, round robin format. There was no decider for third-place this season.
Malaysia was also missing its top ranked player Shihomi Leong, 18, who is currently on tour in Taiwan.
As expected, the Philippines and Indonesia did not send their big guns to the competition. Philippines' rising star Alex Eala as well as Indonesia's Janice Tjen and Priska Nugroho did not feature in Kuala Lumpur.
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