KUALA LUMPUR: A quick turnaround from the quarter-finals saw Malaysia settling for bronze after losing 3-1 to defending champions China in the mixed team semi-finals at the Badminton Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on Monday.
The Malaysian team were back on the court for the semi-finals a little over an hour after edging India 3-2 in the quarter-finals.
Malaysia were forced to make changes to their lineup due to this.
Those left out were boys' singles shuttler Faiq Masawi and girls' singles player Siti Zulaikha Azmi, who had tough battles against India, for the tie against China.
It was Malaysia who took the lead against China when world No. 1 boys doubles pair Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai defeated Hu Ke Yuan-Lin Xiang Yi 26-24, 25-23 at the Gor Among Raga Hall.
However, China levelled when Xu Wen Jing defeated Malaysia's Ong Xin Yee 21-15, 21-13 in the girls' singles match.
Razeeq Roslie, who stood in for Faiq in the boys' singles, lost 21-17, 21-9 to Wang Zi Jun.
Chen Fan Shu Tian-Liu Jia Yue clinched China's winning point when they defeated Carmen Ting-Nicole Chau 21-12, 21-9.
"I played three games today and contributed a point in the semi-finals," said Khai Xing, who played in the boys' doubles and mixed doubles against India on Monday.
"I just wanted to do my best for Malaysia.'
Despite the defeat, the Malaysian camp should be happy with their first medal in the mixed team event since winning a bronze at the 2018 Jakarta edition.
The shuttlers will now shift their attention to the individual events starting Wednesday.