SOLO (Indonesia): The Malaysian paralympic badminton players lost an opportunity to win Malaysia's first gold medal of the Asean Para Games when they fell 2-1 to hosts Indonesia at the Sritex Arena Stadium yesterday.

Malaysia got off to a poor start when Omar Bakri lost 21-11, 21-6 to Hary Susanto in the men's singles but Cheah Like Hou levelled the score when his opponent Suryo Nugroho retired injured with the Malaysian, who won the first game 21-14, leading the second 13-11.

However, Saaba Hairol Fozi and Micheal Sydney lost the deciding match 21-13, 21-7 to Trihono and Iman Kunontoro to settle for the silver while Vietnam beat Thailand for the bronze.

Meanwhile, coach Abdul Rami Jaafar, who expressed disappointment for not winning the gold medal, said though Malaysia had not set any gold medal target for the team event, coming so close was a painful experience.

Malaysia have targeted six gold medals from badminton and 57 gold overall at the Asean Para Games. Bernama