M'sia off to brilliant start
Published on: Tuesday, May 22, 2018
BANGKOK: The Malaysian men's badminton squad began their Thomas Cup campaign in style, crushing Russia 5-0 at the Impact Arena here, Moday.Malaysia's first point was earned by Datuk Lee Chong Wei who trounced Vladimir Malkov 21-9 and 21-6 in the men's singles match which lasted 30 minutes.The country's number one doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong added the second, edging out All-England doubles champions Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov, 21-18, 21-19.
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The third point was contributed by young singles player, Lee Zi Jia, who beat Sergey Sirant, 21-13, 21-16.The country's second double's pair of Aaron Chia-Teo Ee Yi beat Evgenij Dremin-Denis Grachev 21-16, 21-9, to get the fourth point, while Iskandar Zulkarnain bagged the final one.The third singles player beat Rodion Alimov 21-9, 21-12.Malaysia faces Algeria Tuesday, before rounding up the group stage against Denmark on Wednesday.
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Meanwhile, world badminton number one Viktor Axelsen led Denmark's Thomas Cup 5-0 demolition of Algeria on Monday, as Japan's women also breezed past Canada without dropping a set.Axelsen was in unforgiving form, losing just 12 points in a 16-minute destruction (21-4, 21-8) of Youcef Sabri Medel to begin the rout of Algeria.
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Anders Antonsen dispatched Mohamed Abderrahime Belarbi 21-5, 21-9 in the second singles match, while Denmark's doubles pairs also blitzed their unfancied rivals.Nozomi Okuhura got Japan's women off to another flyer, beating Canada's Michelle Li 21-16, 21-17, and helping her country prevail 5-0 for the second day in a row.Japan's women are tipped to unseat China at this year's Uber Cup, with a strong singles and doubles line-up.But China, who have relinquished the cup only once in the last 10 tournaments, made a strong start to their defence, dominating France 5-0.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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