Malaysia crash out of Uber Cup with Denmark defeat

P(BRIEF CAPTION): Malaysia Amelia Alicia Anscelly, left, in action against Denmark's team while Woon Khe Wei, watches during women's double match at Total BWF Uber Cup Finals 2016 at Kunshan, China on 17th May 2016. Star pic by: CHAN BOON KAI/ The Star/ (17th May 2016)

KUNSHAN (China): The heroics of youngster Goh Jin Wei and scratch pairing Vivian Hoo-Goh Liu Ying could not save Malaysia from elimination in the Uber Cup Finals.

Malaysia suffered their second straight loss in Group A after going down 3-2 to Denmark at the Kunshan Sports Centre Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Denmark will finish second in the group and, more importantly, join defending champions China in the last eight after having beaten Spain 4-1 in their opening tie on Sunday.

Having lost 5-0 to China in their opening tie on Sunday, Malaysia are out of contention and will play Spain to complete their group fixtures on Wednesday.

It almost could have been a day of joy for the Malaysians as they fought back from a two-nil deficit after losing the first singles and first doubles matches.

Line Kjaersfeldt blew away Tee Jing Yi 21-11, 21-11 in just 33 minutes while world No. 5 Christinna Pedersen-Kamilla Rytter Juhl were too good for the scratch pairing of Amelia Anscelly-Woon Khe Wei, winning 21-16, 21-17 in 47 minutes.

However, world junior champion Jin Wei gave Malaysia a glimmer of hope with a 21-18, 21-13 win over Mette Poulsen.

Goh Jin Wei in action against Mette Poulse of Denmark in the Uber Cup group match.

Malaysia’s gamble in fielding another scratch pairing for the doubles paid off as Liu Ying-Vivian outplayed Maiken Fruergaard-Sara Thygesen 21-18, 22-24, 21-12.

With the score at 2-2, all hopes were on Ho Yen Mei in the third singles.

Unfortunately, 21-year-old Anna Thea Madsen crushed Malaysia’s hopes as she kept her nerves to beat Yen Mei 22-24, 21-13, 21-13.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) technical director Morten Frost acknowledged that had they won the first singles, the tie could have swung in Malaysia’s favour.

“We are disappointed with the way Jing Yi lost. Line played well but I felt Jing Yi did not play well.

“We had the chance and we should have won the first singles,” said Frost

He was, however, happy with the team’s overall performance.

“The other matches went more or less according to what we expected,” he said.

“I think the team fought hard to push Denmark for more than five hours.

“The split in doubles worked well and proved a good decision.”