KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia's second stringers did themselves and the country proud when they trounced Egypt 5-0 in their second Group D match to secure a place in the quarterfinals of the Sudirman Cup competition in Vantaa, Finland last night.
The young Malaysian team won every tie at the Energia Areena with ease, never allowing the Egyptians to get double-digit points in all the games
World number 49 mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei got the ball rolling by disposing Ahmed Salah-Nour Ahmed Youssri 21-6, 21-7 in 20 minutes.
Men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong then trashed Mohamed Mostafa Kamel 21-8, 21-2 in 24 minutes to make it 2-0.
Malaysia confirmed their place in the last eight when world number 134 Eoon Qi Xuan outclassed world number 113 Doha Hany 21-5, 21-7 in the women’s singles tie.
Egypt, who only brought four players to the mixed team tournament, had no choice but to pair up Mohamed Mostafa with Ahmed Salah for the men's doubles tie against Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, which the Malaysian pair won 21-7, 21-6.
In the last match, women’s doubles pair Teoh Mei Xing-Yap Ling crushed Nour-Doha 21-4, 21-9 to give Malaysia a 5-0 win.
Malaysia, who began their Group D campaign by beating England 3-2 yesterday, made wholesale changes to their line-up last night, with Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles), Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See (mixed doubles), S. Kisona (women’s singles) and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles) all rested.
Malaysia will face 2019 Sudirman Cup runners-up and group favourites Japan in the last group tie tomorrow at 9pm (Malaysian time) to decide the group champions.
Malaysia’s best achievement in the Sudirman Cup was making the semi-finals in the 2009 edition in Guangzhou, China. In the 2019 edition in Nanning, China, the national team crashed out in the quarter-finals. – Bernama, September 29, 2021
