CHENGDU: Malaysia missed out on a chance to emerge as group champions when they went down fighting 3-2 to 2016 champions Denmark in the final Group D fixture of the Thomas Cup 2024 held at the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre here.
All three Malaysian men’s singles faltered, leaving 2022 doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Badminton Asia Championships 2024 doubles runners-up Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani to salvage a point each for the country.
Malaysia fell behind in the first match as professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia lost in straight games to world number one Viktor Axelsen.
Axelsen controlled the first game where several faults at net play proved costly for Zii Jia as he lost 16-21.
After trailing 13-18 in the second game, Zii Jia fought back to level the score at 18-18 but Axelsen managed to come away with a 24-22 win and put Denmark in front.
Aaron-Wooi Yik recovered from a game down to tie the score for Malaysia, beating world number four Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in 63 minutes.
Aaron-Wooi Yik succumbed 17-21 to Astrup-Rasmussen in the opening game but regrouped themselves and displayed resilience to take the next two games 21-17, 21-16.
Denmark reclaimed the advantage when their second singles Anders Antonsen proved too strong for Leong Jun Hao, as the world number four triumphed 21-14, 21-10, in their maiden encounter.
National second doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani had a hesitant start as they trailed 14-19 in the opening game but clawed their way back to level at 19-19 and eventually edged Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard 23-21.
The world number 15 pair played more aggressively in a thrilling second game to win 22-20 to keep the tie alive for Malaysia.
Despite a huge gap in terms of world rankings, world number 233 Justin Hoh was unfazed as he put up a commendable show to stretch Rasmus Gemke, ranked 26th, for 76 minutes before falling 13-21, 21-19, 13-21 in the last match.
Today’s results marked Malaysia’s third consecutive defeat to Denmark in the Thomas Cup series after they last won against the European giants 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the 2014 edition.
Malaysia, who had already secured a spot in the last eight, kicked off the Thomas Cup 2024 campaign in style with 5-0 wins against Hong Kong last Saturday and minnows Algeria on Monday.
Denmark also had it easy in the group, thrashing Algeria last Saturday and Hong Kong on Monday with a similar scoreline.
The Thomas Cup 2024 runs until May 5. - FMT
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