BATC: Defending champs Malaysia off to a flying start

As expected, the Malaysian men's team led by Ng Tze Yong handed Brunei a 5-0 demolition to get their Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) campaign off to a winning start in Shah Alam on Tuesday.

It was an expected result from the tournament's defending champions against the minnows, who only managed to surpass the 11-point mark in two games.

Malaysia set out to be ruthless and they duly gained the first point through Ng, who overcame Kah Kit Kan 21-7, 21-11 after 23-minutes.

Ng could have won by a bigger margin, but he could be forgiven having completed his first full match of the year.

The Johor-born had previously been out injured after hurting his back at the Malaysia Open first round match.

Leong Jun Hao swiftly made it 2-0 after he routed Marhanif Ali 21-5, 21-6 after 19-minutes in the second men's singles.

Third men's singles Eogene Ewe, who came in for the injured Justin Hoh, confirmed the outright victory with a 21-8, 21-4 success over Matthew Minggat.

First men's doubles pair Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri made it 4-0 when they beat Ali-Haziq Roze 21-5, 21-12, before Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin confirmed the trashing with a 21-9, 21-7 victory against Minggat-Iqbal Asyraf.

Lee Zii Jia and men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will be expected to feature when Malaysia face Kazakhstan in their second Group B match on Wednesday (5pm).

The women's team also open their account on Wednesday against the United Arab Emirates (9am).