KUALA LUMPUR: Asian champion S. Sivasangari unexpectedly lost the opening tie to Satomi Watanabe, but Malaysia recovered to beat Japan 2-1 in the last 16 of the World Team Squash Championships today.
Fifth seeds Malaysia will face fourth seeds England in the quarter-finals at the Hong Kong Football Club tomorrow.
In the last world team meet, in 2022 in Egypt, Malaysia and England finished joint third.
After world No. 10 Sivasangari was upstaged by world No. 11 Satomi 11-3, 11-6, 11-6, Aira Azman levelled the scores for Malaysia with a 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 win over Mahiro Nishio.
World No. 18 and China Open champion Rachel Arnold scored the winning point for Malaysia by beating Akari Midorikawa 11-6, 11-3, 11-6.
National coach Andrew Cross said he was pleased with the women's team despite Sivasangari's setback.
"It will be tough playing against England in the quarters, but I believe Malaysia have a chance to reach the semis," said the Englishman.
In the men's team last 16, Malaysia lost 2-1 to Asian champions India. World No. 13 Ng Eain Yow beat Abhay Singh 13-11, 11-9, 11-5 in the opening tie, but India stormed back through Veer Chotrani who beat Syafiq Kamal 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 and Velavan Senthilkumar who beat Sanjay Jeeva 11-8, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4.
Cross said: "We were banking on Sanjay. He was in excellent form on Tuesday and he pushed hard today. He gave a good account of himself but was unfortunate to lose."