CHENGDU: Mental fortitude was key to national second men's doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani's comeback victory to send Malaysia to the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup 2024.
Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin turned heroes to help Malaysia eliminate Japan 3-1 after recovering from a game down against Akira Koga-Taichi Saito 18-21, 21-15, 21-12 to deliver the winning point, keeping the country's hopes of ending a 32-year-old title drought alive.
Knowing the tough situation they were in, Nur Izzuddin said they focussed on staying strong mentally and eventually prevailed against their opponents in the game held at the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre.
Meanwhile, professional men's singles shuttler, Lee Zii Jia, who crushed Kenta Nishimoto in the opening game, 21-13, 21-3, admitted the absence of world No. 4 player Kodai Naraoka from the squad had boosted his confidence to earn the first point for the country.
"I was a little surprised by Naraoka's absence but as a professional player, we need to be ready in any situation. To be honest, Nishimoto made a lot of unforced errors, whatever it is, I was happy to be able to close the game quickly," he said.
In the first men's doubles match, Aaron Chia said although he and Soh Wooi Yik managed to fight back from 14-19 to 19-19 against Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi in the rubber set, their opponents were better at converting chances at crucial points to win the game, 18-21, 21-14, 21-19.
National singles player Leong Jun Hao, who delivered the second point for Malaysia in the third match, said the 21-13, 21-10 win against Koki Watanabe was his best performance here so far, and hoped to maintain his winning momentum should he feature in the semi-finals against China on Saturday.
China advanced to the last four when they eliminated India, 3-1, in the quarter-finals today.
The last time Malaysia played against China was in the quarter-finals of the 2012 edition in Wuhan, China, where the hosts won 3-0.
Malaysia last entered the last four was in the 2016 edition in Kunshan, China, where they came up short against eventual champions, Denmark, 2-3.
Malaysia began their Group D challenge with two massive 5-0 victories against Hong Kong and Algeria, but lost the chance to top the group after losing 2-3 to European powerhouse Denmark, on Tuesday. – BERNAMA