Malaysia's men thrash Singapore 5-0 at Badminton Asia Team Championships; women book Uber Cup spot
SHAH ALAM: Malaysia won both their men’s and women’s group matches at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam on Wednesday (Feb 16).
The men's team started their Group B campaign at the Setia City Convention Centre with a 5-0 win over neighbours Singapore, while the women continued their winning momentum by edging India 3-2 to secure a semi-final ticket as Group Y champions, as well as qualify for the Uber Cup.
Malaysia's top men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia, ranked seventh in the world, was in fine form as he outclassed world champion Loh Kean Yew 21-6, 21-14 in just 30 minutes to deliver the first point.
The win also ended Zii Jia’s two-match losing streak against his childhood rival, in the 2021 French Open and the 2021 Hylo Open final in Germany when he was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists Aaron Chia-So Wooi Yik doubled the lead for Malaysia after edging Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Wesley Koh Eng Keat 21-14, 21-12.
In the third match, the 200-strong home crowd was forced to go through nerve-wracking moments as 21-year-old Ng Tze Yong recovered from a bad start to overcome Jason Teh Jia Heng in a battle that lasted one hour and 18 minutes.
After losing the first game 17-21 and trailing for most of the second game, the Scottish Open champion managed to win the remaining games 24-22, 21-19 to clinch the winning point for Malaysia.
“I think I was not confident because I didn’t have sufficient preparations with only one week's training. But I managed to gain back my confidence and rhythm in the second and third games," he told reporters after the match.
"I definitely did not want to give up before the match was over."
Second doubles pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani easily disposed of Terry Hee Yong Kai and Andy Kwek Jun Liang 21-10, 21-13 in less than 30 minutes, before Leong Jun Hao gave Malaysia a clean sweep by defeating Joel Koh Jia Wei 21-17, 22-20.
In the women's category where Malaysia met India, S Kisona finally ended her eight-match losing streak in all competitions after beating Aakarshi Kashyap 21-16, 18-21, 21-16 after more than an hour to give Malaysia the first point.
Kisona’s last win came when she bagged the Spanish International title after defeating compatriot Goh Jin Wei last June.
Valeree Siow Zi Xuan and Pearly Tan extended the lead by smashing Khushi Gupta and Mehreen Riza 21-1, 21-6, but 18-year-old Siti Nurshuhaini Azman, who prevailed in yesterday’s win over Japan, went down to Ashmita Chaliha 11-21, 19-21.
Malaysia sealed victory when Syed Modi International winners Anna Ching Yik Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing ousted Arul Bala Radhakrishnan and Nila Valluvan 21-10, 21-12, while Myisha Mohd Khairul lost to Tara Shah 16-21, 15-21.
“We are happy to have won. The opposition was young, so we focused on getting one point at a time. The important thing is this win has helped Malaysia qualify for the Uber Cup on merit,” said Teoh.
On Saturday's semi-finals, she said that she prefers to play Japan or Indonesia rather than South Korea, who are stronger in the doubles.
Malaysia earlier beat defending champions Japan 3-2 on Tuesday.
