PETALING JAYA: The national men’s team will take on Japan in the Asia Team Championships quarter-finals on Friday (Feb 6).
The team led by singles shuttler Justin Hoh finished second in Group D after narrowly going down 2-3 to Indonesia on Thursday (Feb 5) and have been drawn against Group C winners Japan.
Based on the lineups released, world No. 39 Justin faces a tough task against world No. 19 Yushi Tanaka in the first match.
It will not get any easier in the first doubles as world No. 18 Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi will be up against 2021 world champions and world No. 9 Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi.
In the second singles, world No. 49 Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin may also have his work cut out as he faces world No. 23 Koki Watanabe.
If the tie goes beyond the first three matches, world No. 33 Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian will play world No. 31 Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi in the second doubles.
In the deciding third singles, world No. 44 Yudai Okimoto stands in world No. 87 Eogene Ewe’s way.
