Cool comeback
Malaysians beat Taiwan to earn spot in quarter-finals
Lee Chong Wei and Co shrugged off the 2-3 defeat by Thailand to turn on the fire and beat Taiwan in the Asia Team Championships for a place in the quarter-finals. They are now back in the running for one of the four tickets on offer to qualify for the Thomas Cup Finals in Bangkok, Thailand, in May.
Chong Wei and Co shrugged off the 2-3 defeat by Thailand to turn
ALOR SETAR: Their backs were against the wall but the Malaysian men rose to the occasion to earn a spot in the quarter-finals of the Asia Team Badminton Championships.
They needed a big win against Taiwan after losing to Thailand 2-3 in the opening Group C match and the Malaysian team led by Lee Chong Wei did not disappoint yesterday.
They came out firing against Taiwan at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium by winning the first four matches through Lee Chong Wei, Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, Lee Zii Jia and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.
Malaysia emerged as the group champions even before the final match between Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Lin Yu-hsien was played.
World No. 2 Chong Wei gave the team a fine start when he overcame a gritty Wang Tzu-wei with a 17-21, 21-13, 21-15 win.
Rio Olympic silver medallists V ShemWee Kiong salvaged some pride when they came good by pulling off a 21-14, 19-21, 21-16 win over world No. 8 Lee Jhe-huei-Lee Yang in the first doubles tie.
It is the world No. 13’s second straight win over the Taiwanese pair and it certainly made up for their poor showing on Tuesday which culminated in a 3-2 defeat to Thailand.
National No. 2 Zii Jia delivered a rousing performance in front of his hometown crowd by beating world No. 26 Hsu Jen-hao 21-16, 21-13 to put Malaysia 3-0.
“I’m happy and excited because this is one of my best performances in my career,” said a pumped-up Zii Jia.
“I won an important point for Malaysia
in front of my hometown crowd. The fans were really amazing and they really helped me get through this match.
“It was tough though. The pressure was on me because we were aiming to beat Taiwan 4-1 if possible.
“I was just focused on winning my match on court and I’m happy to have done my part for the team.
Buoyed by Zii Jia’s fighting performance, Yew Sin-Ee Yi stepped up to seal Malaysia’s spot in the quarter-finals.
They put up a valiant fight to beat Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han 21-14, 20-22, 21-14 in a 70-minute battle.
The opening game that they took was more than enough to help Malaysia through after countback on game difference.
With the win, Malaysia finished as the group champions ahead of Thailand while Taiwan were eliminated after countback.