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The men’s team kicked off its Group B campaign at the Setia City Convention Centre with a 5-0 win over Singapore, while the women continued their winning momentum by edging India 3-2 to secure a semifinal ticket and qualify for the Uber Cup as Group Y champions.
Men’s singles world No 7 Lee Zii Jia displayed splendid form to outclass 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 nemesis.
Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik doubled the lead for Malaysia after edging scratch pair Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Wesley Koh Eng Keat 21-14, 21-12.
The 200-strong home crowd endured some 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 in the third match.
After losing the first game 21-17 and trailing for most of the second, the Scottish Open champion managed to win 24-22, 21-19 to clinch the winning point.
“I was not confident because I wasn’t sufficiently prepared with only one week of training. But I managed to regain my confidence and rhythm in the second and third games. I definitely did not want to give up before the match was over,” he told reporters.
Second doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani easily disposed of Terry Hee Yong Kai-Andy Kwek Jun Liang 21-10, 21-13 in less than 30 minutes, before Leong Jun Hao gave Malaysia a clean slate by defeating Joel Koh Jia Wei 21-17, 22-20.
In the women’s tie, S Kisona finally ended her eight-match losing streak after beating Aakarshi Kashyap 21-16, 18-21, 21-16 in over an hour to give Malaysia the first point.
Kisona’s last win was against compatriot Goh Jin Wei when she bagged the Spanish International title in June last year.
Scratch pair Valeree Siow Zi Xuan-Pearly Tan extended the lead by smashing Khushi Gupta-Mehreen Riza 21-1, 21-6, but 18-year-old Siti Nurshuhaini Azman went down to Ashmita Chaliha 21-11, 21-19.
Malaysia, however, sealed victory when Syed Modi India International winners Anna Ching Yik Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing ousted Arul Bala Radhakrishnan-Nila Valluvan 21-10, 21-12.
Myisha Khairul lost to Tara Shah 21-16, 21-15.
“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 Mei Xing.
Malaysia beat defending champions Japan 3-2 yesterday.
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