The result meant the national squad only managed to secure two trophies in the quadrant and regu events in this inaugural edition of the championship.

The last time Malaysia emerged as champions in the team event was at the 1991 Manila SEA Games. Since then, the national squad has faced a long wait to break the dominance of the White Elephants in the sport.

In the match played before over 1,000 supporters, the squad coached by Ahmad Jais Baharun fielded the first regu of Amirul Zazwan Amir (feeder), Syahir Rosdi (tekong), and Azlan Alias (killer), who lost 11-15 in the first set.

They dug deep to come back and tie the score by winning the second set 15-12, but succumbed to a 15-17 defeat in the third set.

High hopes were placed on the second regu of Farhan Adam, Haziq Hairul Nizam, and Noraizat Nordin to stage a comeback against the Thais. They managed to record a 15-13 victory in the first set but lost 13-15 in the second before being wiped out 4-15 in the deciding game.