The Malaysian contingent ended their outing in Bangkok on Saturday following two semi-final defeats in the 2020 BWF World Tour Finals.
Women's doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean were outclassed by South Koreans Lee So-hee-Shin Seung Chan 14-21, 15-21, and the mixed doubles Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai also had their hearts broken by another Korean pair Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung 19-21, 8-21.
Chow-Lee were first in action, and even though they put on a spirited performance, the class of their opponents secured a convincing 49-minute win and an all-South Korean showdown against Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong in the final.
Chow admitted they were up against a superior pair: “When we attacked, their counters were very fast, so it was quite hard to keep the pressure on them. We had to start from defence and then counter-attack. In a way both of us were trying the same thing, without attacking at the beginning. It needed a lot of patience.”
Goh-Lai, who played in the day's final game, matched their opponents until 19-19 in the first set, but crucially conceded points when it mattered most.
That first set loss took the wind out of them and Seo-Chae comfortably won the second 21-8 and would play double Thailand Open champions Dechaphol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the final.
The men’s doubles final sees a showdown between Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan and two-time Thailand Open champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin.
Ahsan-Hendra were imperious in their 23-21, 21-13 win over South Koreans Choi Sol-gyu-Seo Seung-jae, while Lee-Wang brushed aside Ben Lane-Sean Vendy in the semis.
There are several familiar names in the final, with back-to-back Thailand Open winner Carolina Marin facing Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-ying in a third consecutive final.
The Spaniard beat the world number one in both Thailand Open finals, and would be aiming to end this trilogy with a perfect score.
Viktor Axelsen is also set to feature in his third consecutive final after a straight set 21-16, 21-9 triumph over Chou Tien-chen.
It is another all-Danish final in the men's singles category, just like last week's Thailand Open with Axelsen facing team-mate Anders Antonsen.
