The defeat by the national trio of senior archer Juwaidi Mazuki and juniors Wong Co Wan and Alang Ariff Aqil Ghazalli meant Malaysia have failed to defend the men’s team compound gold medal for the first time since the 2015 edition in Singapore.

The Indonesian trio of Prima Wardhana Winsu, Hendika Putra Pratama and Deki Hastian Adika were the ones who broke Malaysian hearts while bronze went to the Philippines.

“We had a good chance to win gold based on our training, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Despite their youth, I’m really proud of the team. I hope they perform much better next time,” said Juwaidi.

He also refused to accept the silver medal as a defeat, instead viewing it as a challenge to improve their flaws.

“If we look at our scores in past SEA Games finals, we did better this time, and with such a score, we should have won, but luck was not on our side,” he added.