Thailand's domination of the women's associate game may well be over as, for the first time since the event was opened up to associates, they will not be part of the tournament in September.
Instead, the two associate participants will be UAE and Malaysia who met in today's ACC Premier Cup final in Kuala Lumpur.
It was the UAE who eliminated Thailand from contention in Friday's semi-finals, winning a low scoring contest by four runs as they successfully defended their total of 70-7. With Thailand needing six from the final over with one wicket in hand, UAE took just two balls to secure that final wicket and record an unlikely win and secure Asia Cup qualification.
Malaysia secured their spot in a closely fought contest against Nepal. Nepal scored 115-6 with Malaysia chasing it down with just one ball to spare, winning by four wickets thanks to an unbeaten 69 from 53 balls by Elsa Hunter.
UAE captain Esha Oza won the toss and chose to bat first in today's final at Bayuemas Oval, and she led the way with the bat, scoring 53 in their total of 105-3.
There were no contributions of note in the Malaysian reply, with just three batters reaching double figures. They did bat out their 20 overs but fell well short on 68-9, losing by 37 runs.
UAE will be in a group with India and Pakistan for September's tournament - the host of which has yet to be announced - whilst Malaysia will play Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.