Malaysia have been drawn against defending champions China in the Thomas Cup quarter-finals on Friday. Stadium Astro takes a look at three points the national team can aim to score for an upset win.
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik vs Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang
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Chia-Soh are expected to go into this match as the first men’s doubles, having been split up against Japan.
The world number two pair are expected to be under immediate pressure to level the scores, unless Leong Jun Hao achieves an highly unlikely victory over China’s first men’s singles ace Li Shi Feng.
Both these pairs met twice last year and won one match each.
Chia-Soh will need a big performance to find a way past China’s top pair to ignite Malaysia’s hopes in this contest.
Lee Zii Jia vs Lu Guang Zu
If this third men’s singles match does take place with the scores locked at 2-2, then Lee will stand a chance to become the toast of the country yet again.
After delivering the winning point against England last week, Lee went on to win both his matches against Finland and Japan, where the world number 82 beat a top-20 ranked Koki Watanabe in straight games.
Lee has a 4-2 win record against Lu, winning their last two matches after beating him at the 2024 Malaysia Masters and later Thailand Open.
The stage could be well set for the Kedah-born to stamp a big win as he aims to discover his true form.
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin vs He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu
With Man Wei Chong not fully fit, Goh-Izzuddin could take their place in the second men’s doubles if Malaysia do find a point in their first three matches.
Goh-Izzuddin are more than capable of beating this Chinese pair who have slipped to 99 on the world rankings, after the Chinese Badminton Association sensationally removed He from the team following gambling and match-fixing allegations after the shuttler was exposed his girlfriend.
But He is now back with Ren and the Chinese duo did well to beat India's young pair in their group game.
Goh-Izzuddin have beaten He-Ren twice in four meetings, and their chemistry will be crucial to giving Malaysia a point.
