Malaysia beat Japan 3-1 to storm into Asia Team Championships final

SHAH ALAM: The Malaysian shuttlers smashed into the men’s team final of the Asia Team Championships with a 3-1 win over Japan on Saturday (Feb 17).

Lee Zii Jia got the team off to a good start with a 21-18, 21-15 win over Kenta Nishimoto in the first singles at the Setia City Convention Center.

Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik doubled the team’s advantage with a hard-fought 15-21, 21-17, 21-10 victory over Akira Koga-Taichi Saito.

In the second singles, Leong Jun Hao went down fighting 21-19, 12-21, 19-21 to Koki Watanabe to give Japan hope of making a comeback.

Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, though, stayed calm to come away with a 21-15, 21-19 win over Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura to propel Malaysia into the final.

The team will have an opportunity to defend the title won in the last edition in 2022 when they take on China for the title on Sunday (Feb 18).

China overcame South Korea 3-2 in the other semi-final tie.