Nanning (China), May 19 (IANS) China thrashed Malaysia 5-0 in the opening Group D tie of the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament here on Sunday.
The Malaysian players looked good in the first two matches before giving away easy points in the remaining three.
All-England runners-up Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia almost stunned world No. 3 Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen of China in the opening men’s doubles clash before wasting the early advantage to go down 21-18, 14-21, 22-24.
Soniia Cheah then gave a good account of herself before losing 15-21, 23-21, 14-21 to Chen Yufei in the women’s singles.
What followed was a lopsided affair as Shi Yuqi made short work of Lee Zii Jia who bowed out 12-21, 21-11 in just 35 minutes in the men’s singles.
In the women’s doubles, Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen were tamed 18-21, 14-21 by Du Yue-Li Yinhui.
The mixed doubles pair of Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing to tried to stage a fightback for Malaysia but they were also dumped 16-21, 12-21 in just 31 minutes.
Malaysia will now take on India on Wednesday in a must-win tie to advance to the quarterfinals.
–IANS
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