Staying sharp: Chen Tang Jie (right) serves as Toh Ee Wei looks on during their match against Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Arisa Igarashi. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: Now, it’s all about regrouping and turning their focus to today’s quarter-final clash against China.
That’s the mindset Malaysia must adopt after falling short once again to Japan, losing 2-3 in their final Group C tie at the Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, China, yesterday.
Malaysia got off brilliantly through wins from Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles) and Leong Jun Hao (men’s singles), but Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles) and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles) were unable to provide points.
Aaron-Wooi Yik probably had the best chance to win but they went down fighting to 21-12, 20-22, 21-23 to Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi in a battle between former world champions.
National singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen felt the team had given everything against the three-time runners-up but admitted that luck simply wasn’t on their side this time.
Still, the defeat does not spell the end.
Malaysia have advanced to the quarter-finals as group runners-up and must now carry the same fighting spirit into the knockout stage if they are to keep their hopes of at least a bronze medal alive.
Under the Sudirman Cup format, a place in the semi-finals is enough to guarantee a medal.
Malaysia have won bronze medals in the last two editions, ending a 12-year wait in Vantaa, Finland in 2021 and repeating the achievement in Suzhou in 2023.
“I think overall we can be very proud of our team effort, our aggressive spirit on court, and the support from the bench.
“I felt we were a little unlucky today not to get the win against Japan, but they also showed what they’re made of and fought all the way.
“As I just mentioned to the team, with this spirit and aggression, we stand a chance against anybody if we believe in ourselves. But now, we need to focus on our recovery,” said Jonassen.
Jonassen encouraged the team to keep the same fighting spirit in the quarters.
“Maybe we need a little bit of luck, so to speak. But we don’t need to do much differently than we did today. Stay aggressive and keep believing. If we do that, we’ve got a real chance.
“I do believe that the level tomorrow (today) will be even higher but that’s the task ahead,” he added.
RESULTS
Group A: China bt Thailand 4-1.
Group B: Korea bt Taiwan 4-1.
Group C: Japan bt Malaysia 3-2 (Hiroki Midorikawa-Arisa Higashino lost to Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei 19-21, 18-21; Kodai Naraoka lost to Leong Jun Hao 8-21, 21-13, 18-21; Tomoka Miyazaki bt. Goh Jin Wei 21-14, 21-17; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik 12-21, 22-20, 23-21; Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida bt Pearly Tan- M. Thinaah18-21-18, 18-21, 21-18).
Group D: Indonesia bt Denmark 4-1 (Rinov Rivaldy-Gloria Widjaja lost to Jesper Toft-Amalie Magelund 22-20, 21-23, 21-16; Alwi Farhan bt Anders Antonsen 21-17, 15-21, 21-17; Putri Kusuma bt Line Kjaersfeldt 21-6, 21-5; Shohibul Fikri-Daniel Marthin bt Kim Astrup Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-16, 21-18; Febriana Kusuma-Amallia Pratiwi bt Alexandra Boje-Line Christophersen 21-15, 21-15).
