Malaysia couldn't stop China juggernaut in Sudirman Cup
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's hopes of securing a third consecutive Sudirman Cup bronze came to an end after they were outclassed 3-0 by hosts and 13-time champions China in the quarter-finals in Xiamen on Friday.
The national team were simply no match for the tournament favourites, with Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, Leong Jun Hao and K. Letshanaa all falling in straight games to their vastly superior opponents.
World No. 4 Tang Jie-Ee Wei were first on court, tasked with delivering a crucial opening point to give Malaysia a glimmer of hope against the powerful Chinese squad. But the pair couldn't reproduce the magic of their earlier Paris Olympics group-stage win over Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping, losing 21-17, 21-17.
That defeat proved to be the beginning of the end.
Next up, Leong Jun Hao — in his first-ever meeting with world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi — struggled to impose himself and was comprehensively beaten 21-6, 21-14 in the men's singles.
Letshanaa then faced Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Chen Yu Fei in the women's singles, but could not mount any resistance, falling 21-8, 21-7 as China sealed the tie.
With the outcome decided at 3-0, the remaining two matches — Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani vs Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang (men's doubles) and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah vs Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning (women's doubles) — were not played.
The result also means Malaysia have now lost all five of their Sudirman Cup encounters against China since the competition began.
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