KUALA LUMPUR: National sepak takraw head coach Ahmad Jais Baharun has expressed disappointment at his players’ lacklustre performance en route to losing to Thailand in the Thai King’s Cup men’s team regu final yesterday.
He said that his men, who are capable of playing much better, lacked confidence in themselves, and this led to their defeat.
“Personally, the players did not perform up to expectations in the final... they did not capitalise on their chances when they went ahead, and that allowed our opponents to catch up and put us under pressure.
“That is what we need to work on ahead of the SEA Games at the end of this year,“ he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Yesterday, the national side lost 2-0 to arch-rivals Thailand in the team regu final of the 2025 Thai King’s Cup at the Central Hatyai shopping centre in Songkhla.
The defeat means Malaysia’s 34-year wait for victory in the team regu event continues, with their last win coming in the 1991 SEA Games in Manila.
Ahmad Jais, however, is not about to press the panic button as he has only had a short time to prepare the players for the Thai King’s Cup.
With a few more months to go to the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand, he plans to use the time left to draw up a more effective strategy so that his men can be competitive at the biennial Games.
“For the Thai King’s Cup, we only had a week to whip the team into shape. However, I don’t want to use that as an excuse or reason for our lacklustre performance.
“Insha-Allah, we will conduct a post-mortem in preparation for the SEA Games in Thailand,” he said- BERNAMA
