Spirited Malaysia Bow Out To China In Uber Cup Q-finals

From Amiril Muttaqien Meketar

HORSENS (Denmark), April 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s campaign in the 2026 Uber Cup Finals ended with a 3-0 loss to defending champions China in the quarter-finals at Forum Horsens here today.

Opting for a slight reshuffle by leaving out team captain M. Thinaah, Malaysia got off to a difficult start when world No. 33 K. Letshanaa, despite putting up a spirited fight, went down 17-21, 18-21 to world No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi in 47 minutes.

Malaysia came close to drawing level through debutants Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting showed no signs of nerves against world No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning in first doubles.

The world No. 22 pair displayed resilience and solid defence to force a deciding game, but eventually fell 14-21, 21-16, 13-21 after a gruelling 79-minute battle.

China sealed the semi-final spot in the third match as world No. 4 Chen Yu Fei proved too strong for world No. 37 Wong Ling Ching, winning 21-10, 21-10 in 36 minutes.

Despite the defeat, Malaysia can take pride in reaching the quarter-finals for only the fourth time, matching their best-ever achievement in the competition after previous appearances in 2004, 2008 and 2010.

The national team had opened their Group B campaign with a 3-2 win over Turkiye before thrashing South Africa 5-0 to confirm their place in the last eight.

They finished as Group B runners-up following a 4-1 loss to six-time champions Japan.

The Uber Cup Finals 2026, which began on April 24, runs until May 3.

-- BERNAMA