Malaysia trounce Australia for smashing start in Sudirman Cup

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia began their campaign in the 2023 Sudirman Cup mixed team badminton championship in style by thrashing Australia 5-0 in their opening Group C match in Suzhou, China, today.

World number eight mixed doubles pair of Goh Soon Huat-Lai Shevon Jemie got the ball rolling for fourth-seeded Malaysia when they took just 28 minutes to gun down Kenneth Zhee Choo-Gronya Someville 21-17,21-14 for the first point.

Men’s singles professional ace Lee Zii Jia then lived up to expectations to deliver the second point by trouncing Ricky Tang 21-3, 21-13 in 25 minutes before women’s singles shuttler K. Letshanaa clinched the winning point with a 21-19, 21-12 triumph over Tiffany Ho.

World men’s doubles champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik then needed just 24 minutes to make it 4-0 with a 21-7, 21-14 victory over Rayne Wang-Jack Yu and women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah sealed the rout by downing Kaitlyn Ea-Gronya Somerville 21-12, 21-13 in the final tie.

The other two teams in Group C are Taiwan and India.

Malaysia, who must finish in the top two in the group to advance to the quarter-finals, will take on India at 5pm tomorrow (May 15).

Meanwhile, Pearly said she was happy to have contributed a point in the win over Australia despite having not played for a month due to health issues.

"I feel really happy because I managed to get back on the court and I enjoyed the match. I think almost one month (there was) no tournament for me,” she said.

Malaysia haver won the Sudirman Cup since its inception in 1989 and their best achievement was making the semi-finals in 2009 and 2021. - BERNAMA