Malaysia began their gold medal defence in five-a-side football with a narrow 2-1 loss to Thailand at the 9th ASEAN Para Games on Monday.
The Thais shocked the host nation when they opened the scoring in the eighth minute through Kittikorn Baodee.
Azuan Abdul Rasiad managed to equalise for Malaysia five minutes before the break, but Baodee struck again for the 2015 silver medal-winning team in the 40th minute to secure the win.
Despite the defeat, national head coach S. Sunny took heart from it and will assess the team's weaknesses before tomorrow's match against Vietnam.
"I feel the technical level of both teams is the same because Malaysia and Thailand have played for a long time," he said.
"Like we could see, they also struggled and slipped on the turf, which was the same as us."
(Picture: KL2017 MASOC)
Seng Foo Lee
Mon Sep 18 2017
Goalball: Latihan intensif di China beri hasil
Skuad goalball negara begitu beremosi pada saat mereka melakar kemenangan menakjubkan 13-7 ke atas Thailand dalam aksi peringkat kumpulan Sukan Para ASEAN 2017 di Pusat Pameran dan Dagangan Antarabangsa Malaysia, hari ini.
Ridzuan tanam azam baru
Atlet para negara, Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi tekad menjadikan Sukan Para ASEAN Kuala lumpur pada September sebagai medan kebangkitannya selepas gagal meraih emas 100 meter T36 di Kejohanan Para Dunia di London.
Football rumours: Manchester United join the pursuit of Dani Olmo
Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham are also tracking the Spain winger.
England Women wrap up 4-1 series victory in New Zealand
Nat Sciver-Brunt starred with bat and ball.
Mental willpower is so crucial, says Marin after All-England, Swiss Open success
Carolina Marin, a recent double champion on the World Tour emphasized the importance of creating a powerful mental weapon as she looks to hunt another Olympic gold after missing the last one through injury.
On this day in 2012: England appoint Stuart Lancaster as head coach
Lancaster was put in charge after impressing during an interim stint.
NBA: Murray scores 44, hits late winner in OT to lift Hawks over Celtics
Dejounte Murray capped his 44-point effort with the winning jumper with 1 second left in OT as the Hawks beat the Celtics again
Grigor Dimitrov dumps Carlos Alcaraz out of Miami Open
The Bulgarian will play fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals.
Uli Hoeness says ‘probably impossible’ to lure Xabi Alonso from Bayer in summer
Liverpool and Bayern Munich are reportedly interested in the Spaniard’s services.
Willie Kirk sacked as Leicester boss after position became ‘untenable’
Jennifer Foster and Stephen Kirby will remain in charge until a successor is appointed.
Analysing the attacks in a thrilling Championship promotion race
Championship attacks analysis
England will not adopt negative approach after humbling in India – Zak Crawley
England will aim to get ‘Bazball’ back on track this summer against West Indies and Pakistan.