KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 – Lee Zii Jia crumbled, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik crumbled and the burden was on young Ng Tze Yong to check the tide but the 22-year-old from Johor fought in vain as he lost out on experience and Indonesia steam rolled Malaysia 3-0 in the Thomas Cup quarter-finals on Friday.
The Ceres Arena in the Danish City of Aarhus, was once again the scene of disappointment as Zii Jia showed his inconsistency in his 21-15, 21-17 straight games defeat to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in 51 minutes. It was not what Malaysia expected from the skipper of the team.
The Indonesian, who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, snuffed out the Malaysian with his power play that came with confidence. Ginting knew that the first point for his country could turn the tide in Indonesia’s favour.
As for Malaysia, Zii Jia, who hails from Alor Setar, Kedah, it once again showed his roller coaster ride in his game that he needs to be build up his mental strength to establish himself as a world beater. His physique alone cannot win matches.
It was another sad story of Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winners Aaron Chia-Wooi Yik as they fought a 64-minute three-game battle against current world No 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.
The Indonesians, who themselves are having a roller coaster run this year, checked in with a 21-17, 16-21, 21-15 win that was sweet revenge for their defeat in the Tokyo Olympics. They targeted Wooi Yik, whose defense was a big let down on Friday.
Once again it was left for Tze Yong to warm the hearts of the Malaysian camp with his cool and tremendous fighting spirit against the Asian Games champion. Christie used his vast international experience, coming back from a game down for a 14-21, 21-19, 21-16 win in a 75-minute thriller.
For the record, Indonesia also stopped the Malaysians at the same stage in the 2018 Thomas Cup finals in Bangkok.
Indonesia will now face Denmark for a place in the final while China will take on Japan in the other semi-final on Saturday.
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