SHAH ALAM, Feb 18 — The Malaysian men’s squad’s hopes of defending the Badmination Asia Team Championship (BATC) title fell short as they lost 0-3 to China in the final at the Setia City Convention Centre here today.

Malaysia, utilising Leong Jun Hao as the first singles, saw the world No. 38 lose to Weng Hong Yang in 19-21 and 17-21.

The situation arose as the two main singles stalwarts of the country, Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong, were rested due to not being in full fitness, with the former experiencing breathing difficulties due to sinusitis while Tze Yong is down with a back injury.

The efforts of the 2022 world champions, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, the main doubles pair, to bring hope to the national badminton team were also in vain as they were defeated 16-21 by Xie Hao Nan-Zheng Wei Han in the first set before bouncing back to win the second set 21-16.

However, Aaron-Wooi Yik lost to the world No. 90 pair 21-23 in the deciding set in the match that lasted 66 minutes.

Eogene Ewe, Malaysia’s second singles player, continued the disappointing performance as the world No. 298 was easily defeated in straight sets of 10-21 and 14-21 by Lei Lan Xi .

When asked whether Malaysia’s strategy was disrupted after several key players had to be rested, Aaron said it was part of an athlete’s journey where they must quickly act to resolve such issues rather than seeing it as a problem.

"I don’t think it’s a problem because we came as a team. If someone is injured, we can just select another player to play because that’s part of the journey. We have to solve the problem.”

He also highlighted that this experience was good preparation because without playing in this tournament, they would have gone five weeks without any competitions.

Wooi Yik, on the other hand, viewed the issue from a positive perspective, considering it as valuable experience for them in case such situations occur in future championships.

In the previous edition two years ago at the same venue, the Malaysian men’s squad emerged as champions for the first time after defeating Indonesia 3-0 in the final. — Bernama