Mixed fortunes: Leong Jun Hao beat Yohanes Saut Marcellyno but K. Letshanaa (below) went down to Komang Ayu during their Asia Mixed Team Championships Group B tie against Indonesia.
PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles coach K. Yogendran believes that Malaysia need to strengthen their team spirit before the Sudirman Cup after seeing his charges crash out of the Asia Mixed Team Championships in the group stage.
Malaysia had to beat Indonesia in the second Group B tie to progress to the quarter-finals but went down 2-3 at the Qingdao Conson Sports Centre in China yesterday.
The defeat meant that the team could not qualify on merit for the Sudirman Cup which will be held from April 27-May 4 in Xiamen, China.
Malaysia though will likely still make the cut as they are fifth in the world team rankings.
Leong Jun Hao (men’s singles) and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (men’s doubles) contributed the points for the team against Indonesia but K. Letshanaa (women’s singles), Teoh Mei Xing-Go Pei Kee (women’s doubles) and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (mixed doubles) all lost.
In the first match, Soon Huat-Shevon fought hard before losing 21-17, 13-21, 18-21 to Dejan Ferdinansyah-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti in 64 minutes.
Soon Huat-Shevon had beaten Dejan-Siti Fadia in straight games in the Indonesian Masters last month but the latter managed to turn the tables on the former this time.
Letshanaa then fell 12-21, 19-21 to Komang Ayu in the women’s singles to leave the team in a difficult position.
Jun Hao, though, gave Malaysia a glimmer of hope when he battled hard to beat Yohanes Saut Marcellyno 11-21, 22-20, 21-12 in 80 minutes.
The world No. 28 was staring at defeat when he trailed 17-20 in the second game but pulled off a remarkable comeback to snatch the win.
Mei Xing-Pei Kee tried to keep the team’s chances alive but the duo lost narrowly 21-18, 7-21, 17-21 to Meilysa Trias-Rachel Allesya.
The defeat did not demoralise Wei Chong-Kai Wun though as they edged Shohibul Fikri-Daniel Marthin 25-27, 21-17, 23-21 in 65 minutes.
Despite seeing the team’s exit early, Yogendran was satisfied with the team’s overall showing.
“Malaysia could not reach the quarter-finals this time but overall I’m satisfied with the players,” said Yogendran.
“They have given their best. Winning or losing is part and parcel of sports. We are not happy that we lost but we cannot afford to feel too down.
“We will take this as a lesson and learn where we went wrong. We need to go back and work on our weaknesses and do better next time.
“Before the Sudirman Cup, we will work on the team spirit. We will have more training sessions together to improve our team spirit,” added Yogendran.
A day earlier, Malaysia also lost 2-3 to Hong Kong.
This is the first time that the team have not made it into the last eight since the tournament’s inception in 2017.
