Thomas Cup: Malaysia top Group D after 3-2 win against Japan

Lee Zii Jia

BANGKOK: Lee Zii Jia crushed Kento Momota to hand Malaysia the first point in the Group D tie against Japan at the Impact Arena here on Wednesday (May 11).

Zii Jia took 46 minutes to beat Momota 21-17, 21-8 in a one-sided match to continue his winning trend against the two-time world champion. The world No. 6 also defeated Momota in the quarter-finals of the All-England in March.

"I've played against Momota many times but this time, he wasn't at his best. I'm glad, I got the first point for my team," said the 24-year-old Zii Jia.

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In the second game, Malaysia fielded Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani instead of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik against Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi.

The German Open champions did not disappoint as they pulled off a fantastic 21-19, 21- 16 win against the world champions to give Malaysia a 2-0 lead.

The pumped-up duo, determined to justify the faith of their coaches, played brilliantly in a fast-attacking game to take the opening game 21-19.

The Japanese came charging into the second game but Sze Fei-Izzuddin were not rattled and took charge with solid attacking play and some clever moves to win 21-16.

It was their first victory against the world No. 4 pair in three meetings.

"We were surprised when our coach (Rexy Mainaky) chose us as the first pair, but we were ready. We wanted to justify his faith.

"We played without pressure, the pressure was on them...we are happy to beat them for the first time," said Sze Fei.

Veteran Liew Daren had the task to deliver the winning point but he unfortunately went down 16-21, 20-22 to Kanta Tsuneyama.

French Open winner Tsuneyama had a better grip of the game from the start but credit must be given to the 34-year-old Daren for a valiant attempt to fight his way back.

With Daren’s defeat, the lead was reduced to 2-1.

Aaron Chia teamed up with Teo Ee Yi in the second doubles and the duo combined superbly to beat Akira Koga-Yuta Watanabe 20-22, 21-17 to deliver the winning point 3-1 and assure Malaysia enter the quarter-finals as Group D champions.

The highly entertaining match was evenly contested but the Malaysian duo pulled off some incredible shots to power their way to a win.

Four years ago, Aaron-Ee Yi were also paired up at the Thomas Cup Finals here in Bangkok but they did not collect any points.

"We have grown to be better players from the last experience and have learnt to trust each other better," said Ee Yi.

Said Aaron: "We were more focused this time. The Japanese may be a scratch pair but their standard was good and we really had to bring out our best to beat them.

"We did not give away cheap points, we kept it close. Coach Rexy also kept reminding us to stay focused and fight and that really helped," he said.

In the last match, Leong Jun Hao was unable to keep the momentum going and went down 6-21, 21-19, 15-21 to Kenta Nishimoto. With his defeat Malaysia wrapped up the tie 3-2.