CHENGDU: It was a bitter pill to swallow for Malaysia’s second doubles Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani when they missed out on a glorious chance to keep the country’s hope alive in the 1-3 loss to China in the Thomas Cup 2024 semi-finals here today.
Despite giving their all, a dejected Nur Izzuddin acknowledged that today was simply not their day.
“It was not meant to be. We need to discuss with the coach to see where we fell short,” he told reporters at the mixed zone here.
Sze Fei said there was still much room for improvement on their gameplay following today’s heartbreaking loss, which shattered Malaysia’s hope to end a 32-year title drought.
After Malaysia trailed 2-1, Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin had a chance to salvage the situation in the fourth match against He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu.
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Although the world number 15 pair gave Malaysians a glimmer of hope by winning the first game 21-18, all credit to the China pair for staging a remarkable comeback to win the next two games 21-19, 21-12 in 63 minutes to send Malaysia packing – and China into the final.
Professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia admitted that after going down 19-21 in the first game, he struggled to keep up with China’s top shuttler Shi Yu Qi’s in the second game, which proved to be a turning point for the Chinese player to demolish the Malaysian 21-5.
Team captain Soh Wooi Yik said communication between him and his partner Aaron Chia was key in their come-from-behind 15-21, 21-12, 21-17 win over Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang, which gave Malaysia a consolation point.
“We know each other well; we trust each other. It was a good experience for us in such a major tournament,” he said.
Second singles player Leong Jun Hao said that after losing the first game 17-21, his strategy to play aggressively in the second game backfired as 2022 Asian Games champion Li Shi Feng read his game well and won 21-10 to put China 2-1 up.
ALSO READ: Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin send Malaysia into Thomas Cup semis after eight years
China, who have won the cup 10 times, will play Indonesia in the final after the 14-time champions thumped Taiwan 3-0 in the other semi-final tie held at the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre.
Malaysia opened the Group D campaign with two massive 5-0 victories over Hong Kong on April 27 and Algeria on April 28 but lost the chance to top the group after losing 3-2 to European powerhouse Denmark on Tuesday (April 30).
On Thursday (May 2), five-time champions Malaysia sent Japan packing 3-1 to advance to the semi-finals for the first time after eight years.
