KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia have failed once again to qualify for the semi-finals of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship, and thus won't qualify for the Sudirman Cup Finals on merit.
Nonetheless, the team, led by Lee Zii Jia, put up a valiant fight before losing 3-2 to top seeds China in Dubai yesterday.
With the match tied at 2-2, all eyes were on the deciding mixed doubles clash between world No 6 Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing and in-form world No 20 Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping.
Yan Zhe-Dong Ping, the winners of last month's Thailand Masters and Indonesia Masters, won 21-15, 25-23. Malaysia had taken an early lead through former All England winner Lee Zii Jia who beat Lei Lan Xi 21-16, 22-20 in the opening men's singles, but Goh Jin Wei, and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi faltered in their respective women's singles and men's doubles matches.
Two-time world junior champion Jin Wei did everything she could including remarkably battling from 9-0 down in the third game, but Gao Fang Jie prevailed 15-21, 21-13, 21-19 in the pulsating 69-minute battle.
World No 8 Yew Sin-Ee Yi, who were handed a surprise start at the expense of world No 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, failed to justify their selection as they were beaten 24-22, 21-18 by He Ji Ting-Zhou Hao Dong.
Facing a similar situation as in the match against India, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah rose to the occasion this time to outlast world No 296 Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning 21-17, 12-21, 21-19 to help Malaysia draw level at 2-2.
Despite failing to finish in the top four, Malaysia are still all but assured of their place in the 16-team Sudirman Cup Finals in May. Currently fifth in the world rankings, Malaysia would make the cut by virtue of being among the leading three nations that did not qualify through the continental event.
China will face India for a place in the final while the other last four clash features South Korea against Thailand who upset higher-seeded rivals. South Korea upstaged third seeds Indonesia 3-1 while Thailand ousted second seeds Japan 3-2. India came from 2-0 down to beat Hong Kong 3-2.