MALAYSIA’S bid to finish their 32-year wait for Thomas Cup glory ended in tatters after happening 3-1 to hosts China in the semi-finals of this yr’s version at an virtually full capability Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre as we speak.
China rose to the event due to the vociferous house crowd assist and Malaysia wilted below the load of expectations and the facility and would possibly of the badminton giants.
China will now tackle Indonesia in the title showdown after the 14-time champions thumped Taiwan in the opposite semi-final.
World quantity two males’s singles ace Shi Yu Qi set the tone for China’s storming success as he outplayed Malaysia’s skilled males’s singles participant Lee Zii Jia 21-19, 21-5 in simply 35 minutes for a 1-0 lead.
After happening preventing in the primary sport, world quantity 10 Zii Jia ran out of steam in the following sport and was given a lesson in badminton by world quantity two Yu Qi.
In the second match, 2022 males’s doubles world champion Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik overcame a shaky begin towards Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang to succumb 15-21 earlier than regaining their composure to take the second sport 21-12 to power a rubber sport.
Aaron-Wooi Yik engaged in a neck-and-neck battle in the decider till 16-16 earlier than stepping up a gear to place Malaysia again in competition with a 21-17 victory after a titanic 55-minute slugfest.
Malaysia’s second singles participant Leong Jun Hao then took to the courtroom and, regardless of increase a six-point lead at 8-2 in the primary sport towards Li Shi Feng, the Malaysian’s sport went south and he fell 17-21.
That derailed his focus in the second sport. It confirmed as a sequence of unforced errors resulted in the world quantity 37 trailing 0-11 earlier than Shi Feng, the 2022 Asian Games males’s singles gold medallist, romped house to win 21-10.
That set the stage for Malaysians Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani to salvage the state of affairs in the second doubles towards He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu.
Although the world quantity 15 pair gave Malaysians a glimmer of hope by profitable the primary sport 21-18, all credit score to the China pair for staging a exceptional comeback to win the following two video games 21-19, 21-12 in 63 minutes to ship Malaysia packing – and China into the ultimate.
Malaysia opened the Group D marketing campaign with two large 5-0 victories over Hong Kong on April 27 and Algeria on April 28 however misplaced the prospect to high the group after shedding 3-2 to European powerhouse Denmark on Tuesday (April 30).
On Thursday (May 2), five-time champions Malaysia despatched Japan packing 3-1 to advance to the semi-finals for the primary time after eight years.
Meanwhile, the Uber Cup last may also be a China-Indonesia affair tomorrow.
In as we speak’s semi-finals, 15-time champions China cruised to a 3-0 win over Japan whereas Indonesia surprised reigning champions South Korea, 3-2 to achieve their first last after 16 years.
