CHENGDU: Malaysia drew level with Denmark 2-2 in the final Group D tie in the Thomas Cup Finals.
It was not a dream start that Lee Zii Jia had wanted for Malaysia in the first singles after losing the important first point.
The professional Zii Jia started aggressively but it was not good enough to beat a solid world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen and the former went down 16-21, 22-24 in the first singles at the Hi Tech Zone Sports Center in Chengdu on Tuesday (April 30).
Axelsen stayed composed in the opening game and showed better control than the Malaysian to win.
In the second game, Zii Jia fought back from 8-14 and 14-19 to make it 19-19 but the Dane stayed cool to snatch the two points at 22-22 to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Former world champions and world No. 5 doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik however restored order for Malaysia.
They brilliantly came back from a game down to beat world No. 4 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 17-21, 21-17, 21-16 to make it 1-1 in the tie.
Aaron-Wooi Yik showed great fighting spirit and determination to come away with the much needed win in 63 minutes.
World No. 37 Leong Jun Hao knew he faced an uphill battle against world No. 4 Anders Antonsen in the second singles and as expected went down 14-21, 10- 21 to give Denmark a 2-1 lead.
The in-form Antonsen controlled the match from start to finish to claim the convincing win in 40 minutes.
World No. 15 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani saved the tie for Malaysian when they levelled the score at 2-2 after coming out on top over world No. 18 Rasmus Kjaer-Frederk Sogaard 23-21, 22-20 in the second doubles.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin trailed 12-19 in the first game but refused to give in and clawed their way back to snatch the win.
The second game was close from the start and the pair managed to stay composed to give Malaysia the crucial point.
Youngster Justin Hoh will face world No. 26 Rasmus Gemke next in the third singles and deciding match.
(More to follow)
Source Agencies
