PETALING JAYA: The national men shuttlers hopes of reaching the Asia Team Championships semi-finals were dashed after suffering a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Japan.
In the first singles, world No. 39 shuttler Justin Hoh fought hard against world No. 19 Yushi Tanaka but could not maintain his form in the third game and went down 17-21, 22-20, 11-21 in 66 minutes at the Qingdao Conson Gymnasium in China on Friday (Feb 6).
Then, in the first doubles, world No. 18 Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi had no answers against 2021 world champions and world No. 9 Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi and were outclassed 14-21, 12-21 in 35 minutes.
World No. 49 Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin then tried to save the tie for Malaysia in the second singles against world No. 23 Koki Watanabe and got off to a good start by winning the first game 22-20 but ran out of steam in the next two games, losing 11-21, 3-21 in an hour.
