Uber Cup: Malaysia end campaign with defeat to Canada

Malaysia ended a forgettable Uber Cup campaign with an unexpected 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Canada to finish bottom of Group D.

The national contingent opened their group account with a 4-1 loss to hosts Denmark, before they were obliterated 5-0 by China in their second group game over the weekend.

The Malaysians came into the final group game as favourites and were expected to beat Canada, but it went south from the first match itself.

Senarai pemain negara menentang Kanada untuk aksi terakhir kumpulan D Piala Uber S.Kisona kembali beraksi, manakala M.Thinaah digandingkan dengan Go Pei Kee. tiada siaran langsung kerana beraksi di gelanggang 3.@ASTROARENA pic.twitter.com/LB5cJ7HmmG

— AdamZamri (@AdamZamri8) October 11, 2021

First women’s singles S. Kisona was restored to the line-up, but she fell to a limp 9-21, 14-21 defeat to Talia Ng, a 19-year-old ranked 130 spots lower than her on the world rankings.

The Sudirman and Uber Cup were truly two tournaments to forget for Kisona, who was a shadow of herself and failed to win in any of her matches.

Teoh Mei Xing-Yap Ling gave a better account of themselves in the first women’s doubles but still couldn’t find the edge as they succumbed to a 21-13, 10-21, 14-21 defeat against Rachel Honderich-Kristen Tsai.

Eoon Qi Xuan, who had contributed Malaysia’s sole point prior to this match, confirmed the defeat to Canada after a limp 12-21, 13-21 loss to Rachel Chan.

The scratch pairing pairing of M.Thinaah-Go Pei Kee restored a point when they overcame Catherine Choi-Crystal Lai 21-12, 21-13.

The final match saw K. Letshanaa put up a spirited performance against Zhang Wen Yu, but lost 21-17, 16-21, 12-21.

Since the Uber Cup inception in 1957, the national team only made it as far as the quarter-finals, with their last achievement coming in 2010.

In the last four editions, they exited the group stage every time.

The men’s team will get to avenge their female counterparts when they face Canada in their opening Thomas Cup match early Wednesday morning.

No sleep tonight for Malaysian badminton fans. #ThomasUberCups pic.twitter.com/QzmPGKH2uM

— Stadium Astro ? (@stadiumastro) October 12, 2021