Malaysia finished second in Group D of the Thomas Cup after a narrow 3-2 defeat against Denmark in their final match on Tuesday.

The loss means the national team will face any of the champions of Group A, B or C when the draw is made upon all completion of group matches on Wednesday.

Despite the defeat, the Malaysians can take encouragement from their immense fighting spirit, especially shown by both the national doubles pairs and Justin Hoh.

The first match was a blockbuster contest between Lee Zii Jia and Viktor Axelsen, which the Dane won 21-16, 24-22.

Lee did his best to stage a fightback in both games against the world number one, but it proved a little too late against Axelsen.

The world number 10 could have taken the second game after rallying back from 13-19 to hold force deuce, but Axelsen kept his composure to see out the win in this entertaining contest that lasted 45-minute contest.

Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik needed to secure the next point against Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to ensure Malaysia stayed in this tie, and the world number five pair duly answered the call of duty with a sensational come-from-behind victory to make it 1-1.

Having lost the opening game 17-21, Chia-Soh recovered admirably to win the next two games 21-17, 21-16.





Leong Jun Hao went into the second singles a huge underdog against the in-form Anders Antonsen who has already won three titles this year.

True to form, the world number four needed only 41-minutes against a jittery Leong Jun Hao to win 21-14, 21-10.
And so it was up to another doubles pair to save Malaysia, and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin delivered in fine fashion by defeating Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard 23-21, 22-20.

This 50-minute encounter also turned out a fascinating watch, with the Malaysians fighting back from 12-19 in the first game to win, before repeating the trick in deuce of the second game to make it 2-2.

That meant the match winning point was relied on the young shoulders of Hoh, who faced Rasmus Gemke in the final singles match.

The Malaysian lost the opening game 13-21, but turned on the style with a resilient performance to win the second 21-19.

The third game saw Gemke use all his experience to secure the 21-13 win to ensure Denmark finished as Group D champions.