KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Kian Meng, Lai Pei Jing and Goh Jin Wei came so close to victory only to see the Indonesia Masters title slip away following today's finals.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing, who were hoping to win their second title this year, suffered a 21-16, 21-17 defeat to second seeds Ronald Alexander-Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia in the mixed doubles final, while 16 year-old Jin Wei went down 21-15, 21-13 to Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the women's singles final.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing - Malaysia's second-ranked pair - however, can expect to move up the world ranking when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) updates their list on Thursday.
The Malaysian duo, who were only paired last November, are currently ranked 24 in the world after reaching seven finals in total this year.
Goh Jin Wei, on the other hand, can take heart after reaching her first GP Gold Final.
"I am disappointed because we came this far only to lose the match, but that is how it is sometimes. We just have to pick ourselves up and try again," lamented Pei Jing, when contacted in Balikpapan.
"I don't want to give any excuses for our defeat here. We never played as well as our opponents and that was it.
"We've got a few more tournaments to play in and we must produce better performances there," she added.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing settled for a purse of US$4,560 (approximately RM18,700), while the winners took home US$9,480 (approximately RM38,900).
For the singles events, the winners pocketed US$9,000 (approximately RM37,000), while runners-up won US$4,560.
FINAL RESULTS
Men's singles: Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Huang Yuxiang (Chn) 21-12, 11-0 retired; Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pankaryanira-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina) bt Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong (Chn) 21-16, 21-18; Women's singles: Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha) bt Goh Jin Wei 21-15, 21-13; Doubles: Chae Yoo Jung-Kim So Yeong (Kor) bt Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) 21-18, 22-20; Mixed doubles: Ronald Alexander-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Ina) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 21-16, 21-17.