CHENGDU, May 1 – Malaysia missed out on a chance to emerge as group champions when they went down fighting 3-2 to 2016 champions Denmark in the final Group D fixture of the Thomas Cup 2024 held at the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre on Tuesday.
All three Malaysian men’s singles faltered, leaving 2022 doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Badminton Asia Championships 2024 doubles runners-up Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani to salvage a point each for the country.
Malaysia fell behind in the first match as professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia lost in straight games to world number one Viktor Axelsen.
Malaysia, who had already secured a spot in the last eight, kicked off the Thomas Cup 2024 in style with a 5-0 win each against Hong Kong last Saturday and minnows Algeria on Monday.
Denmark also had it easy in the group, thrashing Algeria last Saturday and Hong Kong on Monday with a similar scoreline.
A draw for the quarter-finals will be done after the completion of the remaining group ties on Wednesday. Two quarter-finals will be held on Thursday and another two on Friday.
