PETALING JAYA: Malaysia made a flying start to their Asian Junior Mixed Team Championships campaign by defeating Macau 2-0 in their Group D opener on Friday (June 26).
Malaysia seized the early initiative through boys' doubles pair Ahmad Redzuan-Isyraf Hafizin, who beat Chio Chi Seng-Ou Ka Hou to hand the team an 11-3 lead at the Yatsushiro City General Gymnasium, where the matches were contested under the 55x3 relay scoring format.
Lee Mun then doubled the advantage after defeating Ung Cheok Ian in the girls' singles to make it 22-12.
Redzuan returned to partner Low Zi Yu in the mixed doubles, where they beat Lei Lok Him-Ian Chi Cheng to extend Malaysia's lead to 33-14.
Genevie Lim and Zi Yu kept the momentum going by defeating Chi Cheng-Cheok Ian in the girl's doubles, stretching the advantage to 44-15 before Kong Wei Xiang sealed the opening tie with a 55-16 victory over Ka Hou in the boys' singles.
Malaysia maintained their control in second tie as Damien Ling-Irfan Shazmir got the team off to another strong start with an 11-6 win over Chi Seng-Ka Hou.
Carine Tee followed up with a victory over Cheok Ian in the girl's singles to make it 22-11, before Irfan and Genevie defeated Lok Him-Chi Cheng to increase the lead to 33-14.
Tan Xin Yu-Teh Si Yan then overcame Chi Cheng-Cheok Ian to put Malaysia ahead 44-24, with Tiew Wei Jie wrapping up the tie after beating Ka Hou 55-31 in the final boy's singles match.
Earlier, Indonesia also opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over South Korea.
Malaysia will take on South Korea on Saturday (June 27), with victory enough to secure a place in the knockout stage.
