PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s campaign at the Thomas Cup may have ended early in the quarter-finals but there was a silver lining for men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia.
The 28-year-old independent player’s flawless run in Horsens, Denmark, saw him surge up 15 places to world No. 67.
He was unbeaten in the group stage, winning all three matches in straight games before Malaysia fell 0-3 to China in the quarter-finals.
Zii Jia’s run and the resulting jump in rankings suggests the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist is rediscovering his rhythm on court.
However, it was a tougher outing for teammate Leong Jun Hao, who slipped one spot to world No. 26.
Jun Hao admitted that the outing in Horsens was a low point in his career as he could not live up to the expectations and fell in all three of his matches.
Justin Hoh and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin remained at world No. 44 and No. 51, respectively.
In the men’s doubles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (No. 2) and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (No. 6) held steady, but Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani dropped two spots to No. 9.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin featured and won one match together in Horsens against Finland, before Izzuddin was fielded to form a scratch pair with Soh Wooi Yik against Japan.
Wooi Yik-Izzuddin, however, lost to Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami in the final Group B tie.
In the women’s singles, K. Letshanaa and Wong Ling Ching each moved up one spot to world No. 32 and No. 36 respectively, while Goh Jin Wei took a step down to world No. 54.
Siti Zulaikha Azmi took a big step forward as she moved four rungs up to world No. 85.
Women’s doubles pair Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan received a huge boost as they now sit 131st, moving 12 places up.
The young pair stood out after taking down world No. 7 Japanese pair Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi in their final Group B tie, contributing the only point in Malaysia’s 1-4 loss to Japan.
Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting bumped up two spots to be world No. 20, while Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah remain world No. 2.
Pearly missed the Uber Cup due to a back injury, with Thinaah forming a scratch pair with Ong Xin Yee for two of their group stage matches.
Malaysia’s Uber Cup campaign also ended in a 0-3 loss to China.
