KUALA LUMPUR: The fifth-seeded Malaysian women's team performed beyond expectations to finish joint-third with Belgium in the World squash championships which ended on Saturday in Hong Kong.
However Asian champion S. Sivasangari's inconsistency is a cause for concern.
The world No. 10 was upstaged by Japan's world No. 12 Satomi Watanabe in the last 16 while teammates Rachel Arnold and Aira Azman won their respective matches to help Malaysia prevail 2-1.
Sivasangari did bounce back to help Malaysia upset fourth seeds England 2-0 in the quarter-finals, but fell 2-0 to the United States in the semi-finals.
World No. 31 Aira Azman, though making her debut, had a good outing as she won all her four matches.
National chief coach Ajaz Azmat said Sivasangari needs to rest mentally after a tough season to start fresh for next year's tournaments.
"Aira's performance in the world championships was outstanding and this augurs well for her upcoming tournaments."
The Malaysian men's team were seeded fifth, but finished ninth out of 26 teams.
They fell short because there was a disparity in standards between world No. 13 Ng Eain Yow and his compatriots, world No. 65 Addeen Idrakie, world No. 67 Sanjay Jeeva and world No. 108 Syafiq Kamal.
Asian champion Eain Yow won all his six matches in Hong Kong but his three teammates were inconsistent.
Egypt won both the team titles at the World Championships, beating England 2-0 in the men's final, and the United States 2-0 in the women's final.