CHENGDU, April 29 — Malaysia cruised into the quarterfinals of the 2024 Thomas Cup competition after whipping Algeria 5-0 in their second Group D match here, yesterday.
For the matches, the national camp made several changes, including fielding independent men’s singles player, Cheam June Wei and rising duo, Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri against the African region, regarded as minnows in the sport of badminton.
Malaysia’s second singles, Leong Jun Hao as well as two doubles players – Aaron Chia and Goh Szei Fei – were rested while team captain Soh Wooi Yik partnered Nur Izzuddin Rumsani as the second doubles of the day.
All Malaysian players had relatively enjoyed an easy passage against their opponents at the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre.
Malaysia’s main singles player Lee Zii Jia who barely lost any sweat to give Malaysia an early lead by thumping Adel Hamek 21-8, 21-6 said the match served as a good warm up ahead of Wednesday’s final group fixture against 2016 champions, Denmark.
“Considering that tomorrow will be an off day for us, I requested to be fielded in the match today, so that it can serve as a preparation when facing Denmark,” he told reporters at the mixed zone, here.
In the second match, June Wei had no problem to brush aside the challenge from Youcef Sabri Medel 21-9, 21-14 in 21 minutes to earn the second point for Malaysia.
The 27-year-old, who made his debut in the most prestigious badminton team tournament during the 2020 edition at Aarhus, Denmark, was elated to get a chance to play and prove his mettle in Chengdu.
He also shared that the team spirit was high following an outstanding 5-0 win against Hong Kong in the Group D opener on Saturday.
Meanwhile, it was a stroll in the park for Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal as they took just 17-minutes to outpower Sifeddine Larbaoui-Mohamed Abdelaziz Ouchefoun 21-8, 21-3 and put Malaysia 3-Algeria 0.
Third singles Justin Hoh came out tops against Mohamed Abderrahim Belarbi, 21-10, 21-14 to extend the lead and seal the fourth point for the national team.
Nur Izzuddin-Wooi Yik, needed just 25-minutes to finish off the task for Malaysia, securing a 21-13, 21-9 victory over Koceila Mammeri-Youcef Sabri.
Wooi Yik said he was glad to lead the team to the last eight while Nur Izzuddin was thoroughly enjoyed to ‘reunite’ with his former partner after they last played together as a pair in the 2020 Thomas Cup.
Thomas Cup 2024 will end on May 5.
— Bernama
