Malaysia survive Turkiye scare, debutants Zi Yu-Noraqilah seal crucial victory in tense Group B opener at Uber Cup Finals 2026.
IT was far from straightforward, but Malaysia held their nerve to edge Turkiye 3-2 in a tense Uber Cup Finals 2026 Group B opener at Forum Horsens, here, today.
Debutants Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan emerged as Malaysia’s unlikely heroes, as the world No. 143 pair sealed the decisive point after surviving a strong Turkish fightback.
The second women’s doubles pair showed composure under pressure to defeat Yasemen Bektas-Zehra Erdem 21-18, 21-19 in 44 minutes and rescue Malaysia from an early scare.
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Earlier, Malaysia endured a shaky start in the singles, with both K. Letshanaa and Wong Ling Ching pushed to the limit by their Turkish opponents.
World No. 34 Letshanaa battled through nearly an hour before overcoming Neslihan Arin 21-16, 12-21, 21-13, while Ling Ching was stunned by world No. 78 Ozge Bayrak 17-21, 21-15, 18-21, allowing Türkiye to level the tie 1-1.
Malaysia regained control through professional player Goh Jin Wei, who posted a convincing 21-14, 21-13 win over Erdem in 31 minutes.
However, Turkiye refused to back down as Malaysia’s first doubles pair of captain M. Thinaah and fresh face Ong Xin Yee went down in a close encounter 22-20, 19-21, 19-21 to Bengisu Ercetin-Nazlican Inci in 69 minutes.
Malaysia will next face South Africa before closing their Group B campaign against six-time champions Japan on April 27.
Only the top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
Uber Cup Finals 2026, which began yesterday, will run until May 3.
