KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s second stringers did themselves and the country proud when they trounced Egypt 5-0 in their second Group D match to secure a berth in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Sudirman Cup competition in Vantaa, Finland.
The young Malaysian team, seeded joint 5th-8th, won every tie at the Energia Areena with ease, never allowing the the Egyptians to get double-digit points in all the games.
World No. 49 mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei got the ball rolling by disposing of Ahmed Salah-Nour Ahmed Youssri 21-6, 21-7 in just 20 minutes.
Men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong then trounced Mohamed Mostafa Kamel 21-8, 21-2 in 24 minutes to make it 2-0.
Malaysia confirmed their place in the last eight when world No. 134 Eoon Qi Xuan outclassed world No. 113 Doha Hany 21-5, 21-7 in the women’s singles tie.
Egypt, who only brought four players to the mixed team tournament, had no choice but to pair up Mohamed Mostafa with Ahmed Salah for the men’s doubles tie against Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, which the Malaysian won 21-7, 21-6.
In the last match, women’s doubles pair Teoh Mei Xing-Yap Ling crushed Nour-Doha 21-4, 21-9 to give Malaysia a 5-0 win.
Malaysia, who began their Group D campaign by beating England 3-2, made wholesale changes to their line-up, with Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles), Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See (mixed doubles), S. Kisona (women’s singles) and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles) all rested.
Malaysia will face 2019 Sudirman Cup runners-up and group favourites Japan in the last group tie on Thursday to decide the group champions. – Bernama
