KUALA LUMPUR: The national juniors' hopes of making a swift return to the top tier were dashed following a a defeat by UAE in the semi-finals of the Asia Rugby Under-19 Championships (ARC) in the Philippines today.
Malaysia were no match for the heavyset UAE, going down tamely 34-13 at the International School Manila field.
They will now face Philippines, who lost 26-6 to favourites South Korea in their semi-final, in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
National team manager Azlan Ishak admitted that it was not their day.
"UAE were just the better team today, they have better sizing than us and were also faster than us," said Azlan.
“We just made a few simple mistakes which allowed UAE to score their tries against us.”
Malaysia were relegated from the championship division (top tier) last season.
The championship division, which only features two teams this year, saw favourites Hong Kong winning their first leg encounter against Sri Lanka 37-8 at the Havelocks in Colombo. The return leg will be held at the Hong Kong Football Club on Saturday.