Promotion to Group II of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania competition continues to elude the national tennis squad after falling short at the final hurdle this season.
Tennis Malaysia (TM), however, are still encouraged by what they saw at the recent Group III competition in Jordan.
TM opted for a young squad this year comprising Naufal Siddiq Kamaruzzaman (20), Imran Daniel Abd Hazli (16), Koay Hao Sheng (23) and Syed Agil Syed Naguib (27).
They lost their opening Group A tie against top seeds Hong Kong 3-0 but bounced back to upset Kuwait 3-0 to secure their slot in the promotional playoff against Vietnam (second seeds), which they lost 2-0. Malaysia were seeded ninth this year.
TM honorary secretary Kamaruzzaman Kedah was pleased with the team's overall performance, considering the challenges they had faced in the lead up to the competition.
They had only received confirmation from ITF that the competition would go ahead on July 21.
"We were having difficulty preparing for the tournament due to the various lockdowns. Only Agil and Imran were able to fully commit while Naufal only joined us after returning from the United States," said Kamaruzzaman.
"We took the boys for a number of competitions in Cairo in early July to gauge their form and then trained for a month in Tunisia. I believe this paid dividends.
"We gave top seeds Hong Kong a decent fight and were able to beat fifth seeds Kuwait.
"Agil played an important role as the senior in the team and did well to guide the younger ones.
"Hao Sheng has only recently completed his studies in the US and proved that he is capable of continuing at the senior level.
"Naufal is still studying in the US and will continue to work hard to improve his game. He should be a great asset for us in the future.
"Despite being only 16, Imran showed maturity when he played against the Sea Games champion from Vietnam.
"I think this bodes well for our future, and possibly next year, we can go for promotion to Group II again. This is also good preparation for the Sea Games in April or May."
Imran, a former World Under-11 champion, has been earmarked as a huge talent for the future, though he has been battling injuries in recent seasons.
Imran and Agil had paired up to beat Kuwait's Bader Alabdullah-Abdulrahman Alawadhi 7-6 (7-4), 7-5. He had earlier partnered Hao Sheng in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Hong Kong's Coleman Wong-Wong Hong Kit.
Imran also played the second singles against Vietnam, which he lost 6-3, 6-2 to 2019 Sea Games singles gold medallist Ly Nam Hoang.
Malaysia were relegated from Group II in 2016 and have been in Group III since then.
