CHENGDU, April 28 — Malaysia cruised into the quarterfinals of the 2024 Thomas Cup competition after whipping Algeria 5-0 in their second Group D match here, today.
For today’s match, 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 Tuesday’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 Group D opener yesterday.
Meanwhile, it was a stroll in the park for Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal as they took just 17-minutes to outpower hapless Sifeddine Larbaoui-Mohamed Abdelaziz Ouchefoun 21-8, 21-3 and put Malaysia 3 Algeria 0. — Bernama
