CHENGDU, May 4 ― 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 at the moment.
China rose to the event due to the vociferous house crowd assist and Malaysia wilted beneath the burden of expectations and the ability and may 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 combating in the primary sport, world quantity 10 Zii Jia ran out of steam in the subsequent 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 in opposition to 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 in opposition to 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 collection 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.
Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin (left) hit a return to China’s He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu throughout their males’s doubles semi-final match on the Thomas and Uber Cup badminton event in Chengdu May 4, 2024. — eNM pic
That set the stage for Malaysians Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani to salvage the scenario in the second doubles in opposition to 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 outstanding comeback to win the subsequent 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 huge 5-0 victories over Hong Kong on April 27 and Algeria on April 28 however misplaced the possibility to high the group after dropping 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 can even be a China-Indonesia affair tomorrow.
In at the moment’s semi-finals, 15-time champions China cruised to a 3-0 win over Japan whereas Indonesia shocked reigning champions South Korea, 3-2 to achieve their first last after 16 years. ― eNM
