CHENGDU: Doubles shuttlers Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani jumped for joy after scoring the winning point, as their teammates rushed to hug them.
The Malaysians huddled and danced in joy.
Their sheer happiness was understandable as the underdogs were not expected to go far but yesterday, they ripped apart fancied Japan 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup Finals for the first time in eight years.
Malaysia last reached the semis in 2016 in Kunshan, China.
Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin turned heroes when they fought brilliantly to beat Akira Koga-Taichi Saito 18-21, 21-15, 21-12 in the second doubles to give Malaysia the third and winning point 3-1.
Earlier, Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao had delivered the points in the first two singles but Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik dropped one in the first doubles. The last match between Justin Hoh and Kento Momota was not played.
Malaysia will now face mighty China in the last four battle tomorrow. China defeated defending champions India 3-1 in another quarter-final tie.
Sze Fei was over the moon.
“We feel super happy to give the team the winning point,” said Sze Fei.
“We were nervous at the start of the game but calmed ourselves down and played better in the second and third games.
“Our mission is not over yet and we will stay focused and prepare ourselves well for the semi-finals.”
Said Izzuddin: “We knew if we were nervous, we can’t bring out our best game, so we kept our focus and believed in ourselves. Thankfully, we managed to win.”
Professional shuttler Zii Jia got Malaysia off to a ruthless start by crushing Kenta Nishimoto 21-13, 21-3 in the first singles.
Japan pulled off a surprise by fielding their second ranked Nishimoto instead of Kodai Naraoka and Zii Jii took advantage of the situation by leading all the way to blow away his out-of-sort opponent in just 33 minutes at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Arena in Chengdu.
“I’m definitely very happy to win the first point for the team,” said Zii Jia. “Nishimoto made a lot of unforced errors in the second game to be honest. I’m not sure what went wrong for him.”
Buoyed by the win, doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik gave Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi a rude shock by taking the opening game 21-18 but they could not finish it off. They went down fighting 21-18, 14-21, 19-21 to give Japan the equaliser.
The odds were against world No. 37 Leong Jun Hao in the second singles but he swiftly restored Malaysia’s advantage after stunning world No. 22 Koki Watanabe 21-13, 21-10.
Jun Hao stayed cool to control the match well throughout to claim the win in just 35 minutes.
It was sweet revenge for the 24-year-old after losing to Watanabe in the semi-finals of the Asia Team Championships in February.
“I’m happy with my performance just now,” said Jun Hao.
“This is my best performance in the tournament so far and I’m quite satisfied. I managed to stay consistent during the whole match and kept the pressure on Watanabe.”
Malaysia last reached the final in 2014 but it will be difficult to beat China at home.
