Malaysia handed tough Sudirman Cup draw

Malaysia have a mountain to climb in the Sudirman Cup, taking place in Nanning, China, from May 19th to 26th.

A draw held in the host city on Tuesday for all 31 participating teams saw Malaysia being grouped together with 10-time champions China and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medal winners India in Group 1D.

INFO: #MAS ?? drawn in Group 1D alongside #CHI ?? and #IND ?? for the Sudirman Cup 2019 in May#BadmintonMalaysia#KebanggaanKita pic.twitter.com/MfVuOHZuJO

— BAM (@BA_Malaysia) March 19, 2019

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Top seed Japan, looking to bag their first Sudirman Cup title, are in Group 1A with Thailand and Russia.

1989 winners Indonesia have Denmark and England for company in Group 1B, while Group 1C consists of South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong.

The top two teams from each sub-group in Group 1 progress to the quarter-finals and compete for the title, while the other 19 teams from other Groups compete for overall placings.

Since the tournament's inception in 1989, Malaysia only made the semi-finals once in 2009.

In the 2017 edition in Gold Coast, Australia, a Lee Chong Wei-led national team suffered a quarter-final exit at the hands of Japan.

THE SUDIRMAN CUP DRAW

Group 1

Group A: Japan, Thailand, Russia

Group B: Indonesia, Denmark, England

Group C: Chinese Taipei, Korea, Hong Kong

Group D: China, India, Malaysia

Group 2

Group A: Netherlands, France, USA, Vietnam

Group B: Germany, Canada, Singapore, Israel

Group 3

Group A: Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Nepal

Group B: Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, Lithuania

Group 4

Macau, Greenland, Kazakhstan