Malaysia face tough challenge against Indonesia in Thomas Cup quarters
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will take on Indonesia in the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup Finals.
Based on their performance against Japan in the final group tie at the Ceres Arena in Aarhus, Denmark today (Oct 14), it looks tough for Malaysia to upset the mighty Indonesians for a place in the semis.
In the tie against Japan, the team led by Lee Zii Jia fell to a 1-4 defeat.
Zii Jia went down fighting 21-15, 12-21, 21-23 to Kento Momota but three others after him – Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Cheam June Wei and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani went down in straight games.
Leong Jun Hao gave Malaysia something to cheer when he upset Kenta Nishimoto 21-19, 21-18 in the last match.
“It’s great to win that one point for Malaysia but I know, it will not be easy against Indonesia,” said Jun Hao.
June Wei, who went down 20-22, 13-21 to Kanta Tsuneyama, aims to bounce back against Indonesia next.
“I tried to make a comeback in the opening game after being left behind but I made a couple of mistakes. It’s disappointing that I failed to deliver a point,” said June Wei.
“I hope to play better if I’m given a chance to play against Indonesia.”
The winners of the tie between Malaysia and Indonesia will play the winners of the tie between Denmark and India on Saturday.
QUARTER-FINALS FIXTURES (OCT 15)
(Malaysian time)
2.30pm: China vs Thailand, Japan vs South Korea
7.30pm: Malaysia vs Indonesia, Denmark vs India
RESULTS
THOMAS CUP FINALS
Group C: China bt India 4-1 (Shi Yuqi bt K. Srikanth 21-12 21-16; He Jiting-Zhou Haodong lost to Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 14-21 14-21; Lu Guangzu bt Sameer Verma 14-21 21-9 24-22; Liu Cheng-Wang Yilyu bt M.R. Arjun-Dhruv Kapila 26-24, 21-19; Li Shifeng vs Kiran George 21-15, 21-17).
Group D: Japan bt Malaysia 4-1 (Kento Momota bt Lee Zii Jia 15-21, 21-12, 23-21; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik 21-13, 21-13; Kanta Tsuneyama bt Cheam June Wei 22-20, 21-13; Akira Koga-Yuta Watanabe bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani 21-10, 21-16; Kenta Nishimoto lost to Leong Jun Hao 19-21, 18-21).
