Malaysia edge Indonesia, enter Sudirman Cup semis after 12 years

[superadmin]

KUALA LUMPUR: What a joy it was for Malaysia as the young national badminton team checked into the semi-finals of 2021 Sudirman Cup at Vantaa, Finland, after 12 years.

It was hard-earned victory as Malaysia had endured a long battle that lasted almost six hours to subdue their arch-rivals, Indonesia, 3-2, and equalised their best performance in the mixed team championship, they did back in the 2009 edition in Guangzhou, China.

It was also Malaysia’s first success over Indonesia in Sudirman Cup after three encounters since losing in the first meeting in the group stage of the 1999 edition in Copenhagen, Denmark, which saw the neighbouring rivals thrashed the national team 4-1.

Fiery Tokyo Olympics men’s doubles bronze medallists, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, handed a promising start for Malaysia as they powered past world’s number one, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the first game.

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