SINGAPORE – Malaysia reached the Thomas Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2016 after a stunning 3-1 win over Japan in a last-eight clash in Chengdu on May 2.
They will meet China on May 4 for a place in the final, after the hosts defeated defending champions India 3-1 in another quarter-final.
Capitalising on Japan’s omission of world No. 5 Kodai Naraoka, the Malaysians led 2-1 through 10th-ranked Lee Zii Jia and world No. 37 Leong Jun Hao in the first two singles matches.
Lee defeated world No. 11 Kenta Nishimoto 21-13, 21-3, while Leong upset 22nd-ranked Koki Watanabe 21-13, 21-10.
Their victories sandwiched world No. 5 Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik’s 18-21, 21-14, 21-19 loss to sixth-ranked Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.
“I’m definitely very happy to win the first point for the team,” Lee, who triumphed in 33 minutes, told The Star.
“Nishimoto made a lot of unforced errors in the second game, to be honest. I’m not sure what went wrong for him.
“For me, I’m just glad that I could win the game quickly.”
A dejected Nishimoto said: “Coaches felt that fielding me as the first singles was the best strategy. I tried, but Zii Jia was very aggressive in the second game and I lost many consecutive points. I wasn’t injured.”
It was then left to world No. 15 Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin to secure victory for Malaysia and their second doubles pair did not disappoint.
They came from behind to beat Japan’s 16th-ranked Akira Koga and Taichi Saito 18-21, 21-15, 21-12, sealing the best-of-five encounter and sparking wild celebrations from the Malaysian contingent in Chengdu’s High Technology Zone Sports Centre.
This meant that the last singles between Japan’s former world No. 1 Kento Momota and Justin Hoh was not played.
Momota, 29, had earlier announced that he would be retiring from international competition after playing in this biennial team event for the last time.
In the other quarter-finals on May 3, Chinese Taipei will meet the Viktor Axelsen-led Denmark, while South Korea will face Indonesia, who include an in-form Jonatan Christie.
The world No. 3 had triumphed at the All England Open and Badminton Asia Championships in the last two months.
In the Uber Cup, China and Japan will meet in the semi-finals after 3-0 wins over Denmark and India respectively.
Indonesia will face Thailand, while holders South Korea will battle it out with Chinese Taipei on May 3 for the other two semi-final spots.
Singapore had crashed out in the group stage after losing 5-0 to China, 4-1 to India and 5-0 to Canada. The sole victory came from Yeo Jia Min, who beat India’s Ashmita Chaliha 21-15, 21-18 on April 28.
