KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — The national men’s team kicked off their 2020 Asian Team Badminton Championships campaign in style with a 5-0 win over Kazakhstan today.

In the opening Group B match at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila, Lee Zii Jia gave Malaysia the first point by defeating Dmitriy Panarin 21-6, 23-12 in 29 minutes.

This was followed by energetic performances by two other singles players, Cheam June Wei and Leong Jun Hao, who respectively beat Artur Niyazov (21-15, 21-11) and Khaitmurat Kulmatov (21-13, 21-13).

Malaysia went up 4-0 when doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik took just 19 minutes to beat Artur Niyazov-Dmitriy Panarin 21-11, 21-11.

Malaysia’s second doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani completed the rout for the national team with a 21-9, 21-4 victory over Nikita Bragin-Khaitmurat Kulmatov.

Malaysia will resume action tomorrow when the women’s team, drawn into Group W, meet Japan, while the men’s team take on India in the qualifying tournament for the Thomas-Uber Cup finals in Denmark in May. — Bernama