Justin learns lesson the hard way as Malaysia lose to Danes

CHENGDU: Sadness was written all over the face of debutant Justin Hoh.

The men’s singles shuttler Justin was left dejected after missing out becoming a hero for Malaysia in the last Group D tie against Denmark in the Thomas Cup Finals.

The 20-year-old battled hard against world No. 26 Rasmus Gemke before going down 13-21, 21-19, 13-21 in 76 minutes in the deciding match and Malaysia lost 2-3 at the High Tech Zone Sports Center in Chengdu yesterday.

Justin is seven years younger than Gemke and is ranked No. 233 in the world but gave the Dane a run for his money before running out of steam in the third game.

“Gemke played well and I could not cope with his speed and power in the third game,” said Justin.

“He’s a top player and this is a very good experience for me.

“I will learn from this defeat, work on my weaknesses and come back stronger.

“Our team will continue to fight whoever we meet next.”

Earlier, world No. 10 Lee Zii Jia had set the tempo for the team when he gave a good fight before losing 16-21, 22-24 to world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the first singles.

Axelsen stayed composed in the first game and showed better control to come away with the win.

In the second game, Zii Jia fought back from 8-14 and 14-19 down to make it 19-19 but the reigning Olympic champion stayed cool to grab the two points at 22-22 to give his team a 1-0 lead.

“Axelsen’s game play and confidence was much better than mine today (yesterday),” lamented Zii Jia.

“He controlled the match all the way. I managed to catch up in the second game but it was not enough to win.”

Former world champions and world No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik salvaged hope when they levelled the tie after brilliantly coming from behind to beat world No. 4 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 17-21, 21-17, 21-16.

Aaron-Wooi Yik showed great fighting spirit and determination to come away with the much needed win in 63 minutes.

“We are happy to get a point for the team,” said Aaron.

“Our teammates’ support gave us extra motivation and we managed to stay calm after losing the first game.”

In the second singles, world No. 37 Leong Jun Hao faced an uphill task against world No. 4 Anders Antonsen and fell 14-21, 10-21 to give Denmark a 2-1 lead.

The in-form Antonsen controlled the match from start to finish to claim the convincing win in 40 minutes.

World No. 15 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani then saved the tie and made it 2-2 for Malaysia by edging world No. 18 Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard 23-21, 22-20.

Both Malaysia and Denmark have reached the quarter-finals but the latter will be seeded after the victory.

A draw for the last eight will be done after the completion of the group ties today.