KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 — Malaysia booked their quarter-final berth in the 2023 World Junior Mixed Team badminton championships in Spokane, the United States, after emerging as Group C champions following a 5 – 0 thrashing of England yesterday.
Malaysia will face Group D winners India in the last-eight tie to be held later today, thus making amends for their group stage exit in last year’s edition in Santander, Spain.
In their last Group C match held at The Podium, the national team drew first blood after mixed doubles duo Low Han Chen – Chan Wen Tse overcame Oliver Butler – Chloe Dennis 21 – 16, 21 – 17 in 28 minutes.
Buoyed by the good start, boys’ singles Eogene Ewe showed his mettle to outclass Michael Pang 21 – 6, 21 – 9 to deliver the second point for Malaysia.
However, girls’ singles Siti Zulaikha Muhammad Azmi had to claw back from a game down to see off Leona Lee 16 – 21, 21 – 18, 21 – 10 to get the winning point for the country, while boys’ doubles Bryan Jeremy Goonting – Aaron Tai defeated Robin Harper – Harry Wakefield 21 – 12, 21 – 10 to bag the fourth point.
Girls’ doubles Ong Xin Yee – Carmen Ting then completed the rout for Malaysia by thrashing Lucy Brierley – Tashvi Parab 21 – 11, 21 – 9 in the final action.
On Monday (September 25), Malaysia kicked off their Group C campaign in style as they overpowered Poland 4 – 1 in the opening match, followed by a 5 – 0 win over Austria and another 5 – 0 victory against Latvia on Tuesday (September 26).
In the last edition, Malaysia finished ninth after defeating Denmark 4 – 1.
To make matters worse, it was also the first time no national players qualified for the quarter-finals of the individual competition in Spain.
The last time Malaysia won a medal in the tournament was in the 2018 edition in Canada when Goh Jin Wei emerged as the girls’ singles champion while Pearly Tan – Toh Ee Wei took home silver in the girls’ doubles.
— Bernama
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