Malaysia must revert back to its original men's doubles pairings after the strategy to mix up both pairings resulted in a 3-2 defeat in their final Thomas Cup Group B match on Wednesday.

With Man Wei Chong not fully fit,  doubles coaches Herry Iman Pierngaldi and Rexy Mainaky decided to pair Aaron Chia with Tee Kai Wun and Soh Wooi Yik with Nur Izzuddin.

While Chia-Tee did well to level the scores after Leong Jun Hao lost the first match, Soh-Izzuddin lost theirs and as a result the national team will have to brace themselves for a tough quarter-finals match against any of the group champions.

Leong's miserable form continued after he was easily dispatched 11-21, 15-21 against Kodai Naraoka in the first men's singles.

#ThomasCup2026 | Group B (MD2)#MAS 🇲🇾 1-3 #JPN 🇯🇵

Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami
def. Soh Wooi Yik-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani 14-21, 21-19, 21-19

⏱️ 1h 10m

Japan secure the tie despite Wooi Yik-Izzuddin’s brave efforts.

Malaysia finish their Group B campaign as runners-up.… pic.twitter.com/8SJGu12t8v

— BAM (@BA_Malaysia) April 29, 2026

But Chia-Tee answered back with a 16-21, 21-14, 21-19 win against world number 24 pair Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi to open up this contest.

Justin Hoh was next up, and just like Leong, he too turned in a poor display and lost 15-21, 12-21 against Yushi Tanaka.

It was up to Soh-Izzuddin to level the tie and despite holding comfortable leads in the second and third game, they lost 21-14, 19-21, 19-21 against Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami.

Lee Zii Jia scored a consolation point in the third singles with a 21-13, 21-19 win over Koki Watanabe, which is a massive boost knowing that he could be a crucial asset if Malaysia goes to the third men's singles match at 2-2 in the quarter-finals.