THE Malaysian Uber Cup squad defied the odds in the playoff round for quarter-final berths, knocking out second seeds Japan 3-0 at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta yesterday.
The Malaysians showed no after-effects of their demoralising 2-3 defeat by Denmark just a day earlier when they overpowered the Japanese for the first-time ever in the Uber Cup Finals.
By booking a spot in the last eight against South Korea today, the Malaysians equalled their best-ever achievement in the Finals accomplished in 2004, also in Jakarta. Then, they bowed out 0-3 against China.
Yesterday, Wong Mew Choo and Julia Wong redeemed themselves after their losses against the Danes by delivering two crucial points.
In between, the gamble to split the doubles combinations paid handsome dividends when Lim Pek Siah teamed up with Wong Pei Tty to stun the more fancied Satoko Suetsuna-Miyuki Maeda 21-15, 21-18 in the first doubles.
Mew Choo set the ball rolling for Malaysia with a clinical 21-17, 21-18 victory over Eriko Hirose in just 41 minutes.
The decision to balance up the strength of the two pairs by breaking up the first ranked combination of Pei Tty and Chin Eei Hui worked wonders. And Eei Hui and Ng Hui Lin were not required to play the second doubles match after the tie went dead in favour of Malaysia.
Against the athletic Suetsuna-Maeda, Pek Siah-Pei Tty banked on their vast experience to remain in control and make it 2-0 for Malaysia.
It was left to Julia to clinch the winning point, and she did not disappoint against Yu Hirayama.
After taking the first game 21-15, Julia lost focus and lost the second tamely at 10-21. She was also on the ropes in the rubber, trailing 6-11 at the court changeover. But concerns over a repeat meltdown that let to her defeat by Denmark’s Nanna Brosolat Jensen proved unfounded.
After a pep talk from Mew Choo and also coach Rashid Sidek, the Malaysian number two fought back and levelled the score at 13-13. Both players traded points until 19-19 before Julia pulled away to seal a famous win.
“I lost my way midway through the second game and the decline continued at the start of the third game,” said Julia.
“Mew Choo’s advice to me was to be more patient with my attacking game. I was rushing into making attacks and this allowed Hirayama to exploit the situation. I heeded the advice and regained control and was determined to fight back and never gave up.”
Rashid said that Malaysia can expect a much tougher hurdle against third seeds South Korea today.
“After China, the Koreans are the next toughest opponents to play in the Uber Cup. They have all-round strength and they also have more experience in their side. But our confidence is high after defeating Japan and we are hoping to put on another good performance in the quarter-finals,” he said.
Fourth seeded Malaysia had to go into the playoff round, involving second and third-placed teams in groups, after finishing as the runners-up in Group Y behind Denmark and ahead of New Zealand.
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