Thomas Cup: Justin Sparks Malaysia’s Revival Against Finland To Reach Last Eight

From Amiril Muttaqien Meketar

HORSENS (Denmark), April 27 (Bernama) -- Not the cleanest outing, but good enough to get the job done.

Malaysia bounced back from an early setback to defeat Finland 4-1 and book their place in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Thomas Cup Finals at Forum Horsens here today.

After sitting out in the opening 3-2 win over England, top national men’s singles player Leong Jun Hao failed to make an impact on his return, going down 17-21, 15-21 to world No. 60 Joakim Oldorff in 43 minutes.

The world No. 25 looked sluggish and hesitant, allowing his 23-year-old opponent to hand Finland the lead.

However, the tide quickly turned through second singles Justin Hoh, who rose to the occasion to level the tie.

The world No. 44 sparked Malaysia’s revival as he brushed aside Kalle Koljonen 21-14, 21-12 in 39 minutes, thus maintaining his clean record against the world No. 52 with back-to-back wins.

Momentum then swung firmly in Malaysia’s favour as professional player Lee Zii Jia delivered the third point, seeing off Ananda Galvani Daniswara 21-19, 21-10 in 35 minutes.

World No. 7 duo Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani confirmed Malaysia’s quarter-final berth with a 21-12, 21-15 win over Elliel Melleri-Niilo Nyqvist.

Soh Wooi Yik, the 2022 men’s doubles world champion, then paired up with Tee Kai Wun, and the scratch pair needed just 24 minutes to seal the tie by defeating Daniswara-Alvar Melleri 21-7, 21-14.

The five-time champions will next face 2014 champions Japan on Wednesday (April 29) in their final Group B tie.

The Thomas Cup Finals 2026, which began on April 24, will run until May 3.

-- BERNAMA