Kudus: Malaysia's Under-16 women's team saw their hopes of reaching the Srikandi Merdeka Cup final in Indonesia dashed after a 5-1 defeat to Thailand today. Playing at the Super Soccer Arena in Kudus, the White Elephants took the lead in the seventh minute when Malaysia's Sofia Lacasse inadvertently turned the ball into her own net.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Malaysia's task became tougher nine minutes later when Nisriena Batrissya was shown a red card, leaving the national side with 10 players for the remainder of the match. Despite being a player down, Malaysia fought back to level through Nina Hasmaji in the 40th minute, sending both teams into the break tied at 1-1.

Thailand regained the lead through Kawinda Kikuntod in the 51st minute before Kanokporn Wanthong struck twice in the 64th and 73rd minutes. Zuzana Kordem completed the 5-1 victory by scoring five minutes from time to book the White Elephants' place in the Srikandi Merdeka Cup 2026 final.

Malaysia had earlier reached the semi-finals after thrashing Saudi Arabia 9-0 to finish as Group A runners-up, with national striker Lim You grabbing the spotlight by scoring seven goals in the match.