The writing was on the wall after the 3-2 defeat to Indonesia in the first match on Monday, and, on Tuesday, Malaysia kissed farewell to their Uber Cup quarter-final hopes with a 4-1 defeat to reigning champions China in a Group D match.
The Malaysians, who must blame themselves, for the exit as the coaches were still “experimenting” their doubles combinations – the main cause of the down at the Impact Arena, Bangkok in their quest to achieve their initial target of reaching the quarter-finals at least.
If there is any consolation for the team, it was the steely performance by former world junior champion Goh Jin Wei in the singles. Coming in as the second singles Jin Wei took down He Bingjao in a three-game thriller to prevail 21-9, 17-21, 21-13 in 51 minutes and narrow the deficit to 1-2 in favour of China.
National No 1 Soniia Cheah also gave a creditable performance on the court in the first singles but lacked that little “extra” to snatch victory and lost to China’s former world junior champion Chen Yufei. The Chinese won 18-21, 22-20, 21-18 after a 65-minute battle.
Malaysia paraded another scratch combination in the first doubles and Goh Yea Ching-Soong Fie Cho went down soundly 9-21, 8-21 in only 29 minutes to Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan and hand China a 2-0 lead.
Commonwealth Games champions Chow Mei Kuan-Vivian Hoo lasted only 35 minutes in their 19-21, 15-21 defeat to Huang Dongping-Yu Zheng before Gao Fangjie wrapped up the tie at 4-1 with a 21-16, 21-15 win over Lee Ying Ying.
China, winner of the Uber Cup 14 times, will now play Indonesia in their final group match decide who finishes on the top. There will be a completely new draw for the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, Indonesia overwhelmed France 5-0 for their second win on Tuesday. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
UBER CUP RESULTS
GROUP D
CHINA 4 MALAYSIA 1
(China first)
WS1: Chen Yufei beat Soniia Cheh 18-21, 22-20, 21-18
WD1: Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan beat Goh Yea Chong-Soong Fie Cho 21-9, 21-18
WS2: He Bingjiao lost to Goh Jin Wei 9-21, 21-17, 13-21
WD2: Huang Dongping-Yu Zheng beat Chow Mei Kuan-Vivian Hoo 21-19, 21-15
WS3: Gao Fangjie beat Lee Ying Ying 21-16, 21-15
INDONESIA 5 FRANCE 0
(Indonesia first)
WS1: Gregoria Mariska beat Yaelle Hoyaux 21-9, 21-8
WD1: Della Destiara Haris-Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani beat Emile Lefel-Anne Tran 21-10, 21-16
WS2: Dinar Dyah Ayustine beat Marie Batomene 21-17, 21-10
WD2: Nitya Krishinda Maheswari-Apriyani Rahayu beat Delphine Delrue-Lea Palermo 16-21, 21-19, 21-19
WS3: Ruselli Hartawan beat Katia Nomand 21-17, 21-16
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