PETALING JAYA: Indonesia fired a warning to Malaysia ahead of their group showdown in the Asia Team Championships after a fine showing in the Thailand Masters.
Shuttlers Moh Zaki Ubaidillah and Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana, who will be part of the Indonesian team in the team meet, proved their threat by capturing the men’s singles and doubles titles respectively.
The Asia team meet gets underway today in Qingdao, China with Indonesia and Malaysia facing off in their second group D match on Thursday.
With Myanmar the other team in the group, the clash between Indonesia and Malaysia will most likely decide the group winners.
Finishing top of the group could give the team a more favourable draw in the quarter-finals.
The 18-year-old Zaki is brimming with confidence after beating homester Panitchapon Teeraratsakul 21-19, 20-22, 21-19 to win his maiden maiden Super 300 crown on Sunday.
Zaki also proved a thorn in Malaysia’s side when he beat both Leong Jun Hao and Justin Hoh enroute to winning gold and silver in the men’s team and individual events in the Thailand SEA Games last December.
The Indonesian, who is currently ranked No. 44 in the world, is eyeing more breakthroughs in his career and will be a difficult customer again in the Asia team meet.
“This win feels extraordinary. I feel so happy as I didn’t expect to win. I hope to continue my form after this and win bigger titles,” said Zaki in an interview posted in the Indonesian National Badminton Association (PBSI) website.
With world No. 29 Jun Hao not selected in the team meet this time, world No. 38 Justin will need to find a way to overcome Zaki.
The other singles players in the Indonesian team are world No. 48 Prahdiska Bagas, world No. 68 Anthony Ginting and Richie Duta (No. 125).
For Malaysia, Justin will be joined by world No. 45 Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, world No. 86 Eogene Ewe and Kong Wei Xiang (No. 344).
It could also be double trouble for Malaysia in the doubles after world No. 16 Leo-Bagas defeated world No. 18 teammates Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin 21-10, 21-17 in the Thailand tourney title match.
It was the former’s first title since the 2024 Korean Open while Raymond-Joaquin, who are also heading for the team meet, made it into back-to-back finals after also finishing second in the Indonesian Masters last week.
“We are so happy to win a title after quite long. We don’t want to be too satisfied yet though as we still have many tournaments coming up,” said Leo.
Malaysia’s hopes in the doubles will be on world No. 17 Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi, world No. 33 Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian and Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing (No. 35).
