M’sia beat Great Danes to storm into Sudirman Cup semis

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia stormed into the Sudirman Cup semi-finals in Suzhou, China after defeating Denmark 3-1 today.

Mixed doubles duo Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei gave Malaysia the early lead in the first match by overpowering Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Bøje, 15-21, 21-14, 21-7.

However, in an unexpected turn of events, the world’s top men’s singles shuttler Viktor Axelsen was forced to retire just five minutes into the second match against eighth-ranked Lee Zii Jia after suffering a hamstring injury.

Axelsen’s injury gave Malaysia a 2-0 lead against Denmark.

In the women’s singles, Mia Blichfeldt gave Denmark their first point when she defeated Malaysia’s top women’s singles player Goh Jin Wei, 21-14, 15-21, 21-19, in an hour-long match. 

In the fourth match, men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik beat Kim Astrup-Anders Rasmussen, 21-17, 21-16.

Malaysia will now meet South Korea in tomorrow’s semi-finals while Japan will take on China in the other half of the draw. – The Vibes, May 19, 2023