CHENGDU, April 27 — Despite low expectations from men’s singles camp heading to Thomas Cup 2024 in Chengdu, the Malaysian squad managed to prove their mettle after sweeping aside Hong Kong in the Group D opener today.
After professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia put Malaysia 1-0 ahead following a 21-18-21-18 straight-set win over Lee Cheuk Yiu, all eyes focused on how well Leong Jun Hao and Justin Hoh would perform when they stepped onto the court at the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre.
And both Leong and Hoh did not disappoint as they played their part to help Malaysia thrash Hong Kong 5-0.
World number 37 Leong, who confirmed the winning point for Malaysia, displayed a heroic act by upsetting world number 27 Angus Ng Ka Long, 17-21, 21-12, 21-15. He believes today’s result would lift their confidence to fight against higher-ranked players here.
“I just hope we will keep doing well and fighting to get a point for the team. For sure this win gave me a boost to play in upcoming matches because it was quite difficult to play against Angus just now,” he told the Malaysian press in a post-match interview.
After trailing in the first set, Leong said that rousing support from his teammates really inspired him to stage a comeback, which contributed to the third point for the national team.
In the meantime, Hoh, who survived a rubber set battle against Chan Yin Chak in 21-17, 19-21, 21-17, in the last match, admitted he felt pressure to win in his first major tournament in Chengdu.
The 20-year-old said he was also too hard on himself, which led to him losing in the second set against Chan.
Despite feeling pressure against Cheuk Yiu, Lee said he finally managed to heave a huge sigh of relief to see off the world number 15 player and delivered the maiden point for Malaysia against Hong Kong.
He added that a few tips given by his coach Wong Tat Meng, who used to train Cheuk Yiu before, worked wonders for him as he equalled the head-to-head record to 2-2 since both players first met in the Belgian International 2017.
Meanwhile, team captain Soh Wooi Yik hoped that they would carry the winning momentum onto the next matches, while Aaron is optimistic that victory over Hong Kong will open the door for Malaysia to become the top two teams in Group D and qualify for the last eight.
Chai-Soh had earlier notched the second point for Malaysia after seeing off Law Cheuk Him-Yeung Shing Choi 21-16, 21-12, while second doubles, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani delivered the fourth point with 21-19, 21-18 over Reginald Lee-Tang Chun Man.
Five-time champion, Malaysia, can qualify for the last eight berth, provided they overcome minnows from the North African region Algeria in the second tie tomorrow before ending the Group D campaign against 2016 champion and European powerhouse Denmark on Tuesday (April 30).
— Bernama
