AARHUS – Malaysia’s quest in the 2020 Uber Cup is set to end in the group stage after losing 5-0 to 14-time champions China in a Group D tie at the Ceres Arena today.
After opening their campaign with a 4-1 defeat by hosts Denmark on Saturday, the young and resilient Malaysians showed good fighting spirit against the highly ranked China, who were led by Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei.
In the first singles, a cool, calm, and collected world number two Yu Fei only took 31 minutes to dismantle Eoon Qi Xuan 21-13, 21-11.
Qi Xuan, who pulled off the tournament’s biggest upset yesterday when she stunned Denmark’s Line Christopherson, who is ranked exactly 100 places higher, was handed the first singles role after S. Kisona was rested today.
China's 2018 world junior champions Liu Xuan Xuan-Xia Yu Ting then doubled their lead after edging the scratch pair of Lee Meng Yean-M. Thinaah 21-12, 21-17.
China, who are the most successful Uber Cup team, clinched the winning point when world number eight He Bing Jiao easily beat debutant Siti Nurshuhaini Azman 21-8, 21-3.
The 17-year-old Siti Nurshuhaini, ranked 455, tried her best but Bing Jiao was clearly too strong.
Tokyo Olympics mixed doubles gold medallist Huang Dong Ping and women’s doubles silver medallist Jia Yi Fan then combined in the second doubles to make it 4-0 for China with a 21-9, 21-12 victory over youngsters Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing.
Then, 2018 World Junior Championship silver medallist Wang Zhi Yi wrapped up the proceedings with a 21-15, 21-11 win over K. Letshanaa.
Malaysia will complete their Group D fixture against Canada on Tuesday at 1am (Malaysian time).
China, who began their campaign with a similar 5-0 routing of Canada on Saturday, will wrap up their group fixture against hosts Denmark.
With only the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals, China are sitting comfortably at the top of Group D with two wins, followed by Denmark, with one win. – Bernama, October 11, 2021
