KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia face a tough challenge in the Asia Mixed Team Championship from Feb 11-16 in Qingdao, China after being drawn into the "group of death".
The draw on Friday (Jan 17) has placed Malaysia in Group B alongside Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Kazakhstan, the only group with four teams.
Only the top two teams will advance to the knockout stage.
Although Indonesia and Hong Kong have never won the biennial tournament since its inception in 2017, both nations have previously claimed bronze medals.
They shared the bronze in the 2019 edition held in Hong Kong.
Malaysia have yet to advance beyond the quarter-finals in this championship.
In the previous edition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2023, Malaysia’s journey ended in the quarter-finals after a defeat to two-time champions China.
China, the top seeds for this edition, have been drawn into Group A alongside Taiwan and Singapore.
Group B will see Japan, Thailand and the Philippines competing.
Meanwhile, South Korea will face India and Macau in Group D.
The tournament format includes men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Each team can field a maximum of eight men and eight women players.
