By Muhammad Afiff Md Adnan
NAGOYA, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- Despite the disappointment of failing to complete a double-gold mission, national tekong Mohammad Syahir Mohd Rosdi considers the achievement of one gold and one silver medal at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games to be among the best of his career.
Syahir, alongside Mohamad Azlan Alias and Aidil Aiman Azwawi, had to settle for silver after losing 9-15, 8-15 to the Thai trio of Kritsanapong Nontakote, Wuttinun Kamsanor, and Tanaphon Sapyen in the regu event final at Paloma Mizuho Arena today.
The victory saw Thailand retain the title, effectively dashing the Malaysian sepak takraw team's hopes of concluding their campaign with two gold medals.
Nevertheless, Syahir views the overall achievement this time as a positive step forward compared to his two previous Asian Games appearances, where he returned home with only silver medals.
"Alhamdulillah, for me, this is a pretty good achievement for these Asian Games because previously it was just two silver medals.
"For Asian Games, we managed to change the colour to one gold. People say that is one of the best achievements of my career," he said when met after the match.
Last Friday, Syahir helped the national squad end a 36-year wait to win gold in the team regu event; Malaysia had last won the event at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games.
That success had fueled hopes of repeating the double-gold feat achieved by the country at the 1990 Beijing Games, where they won both the team regu and regu events.
However, that dream did not materialize as Thailand displayed superior precision and discipline in today's final.
Reflecting on the defeat, Syahir acknowledged that the national squad had given their all but noted that there were minor aspects requiring improvement particularly regarding the mental approach when facing Thailand.
"As a team, we did our very best, but there are small details we need to pay attention to.
"Psychologically, I could see that Thailand was truly determined to win today; we tried our hardest and attempted various strategies. But today, victory belonged to Thailand," he said.
-- BERNAMA