KUALA LUMPUR: This time, the Malaysia men hit back with a 5-0 rout of Canada in the Thomas Cup.
After Canada humbled the Malaysian women 4-1 in the Uber Cup yesterday,
the Malaysian men showed no mercy today in their Group D opener.
Lee Zii Jia and Co scored a resounding win and duly booked their spot in the quarter-finals (smoothened by England's withdrawal).
World No 8 Zii Jia carved out a 21-18, 21-13 win over world No 39 Brian Yang in the first singles.
"It was a good win and the first game was a tough one. Brian tried to catch up but I was feeling confident by the second game," said Zii Jia.
"The pressure was definitely on me as Brian had beaten some top players and people were expecting him to do well against me too.
"I think the key factor was being stronger mentally, and I felt my performance today was good."
Following the strong start by Zii Jia, world No 70 Cheam June Wei stepped up to double Malaysia's lead by beating world No 46 Jason Anthony Ho-Shue 21-14, 21-14.
In the third singles, Thomas Cup debutant Ng Tze Yong looked to be in trouble when he trailed 4-12 in the second game against world No 79 B.R. Sankeerth.
But the 21-year-old showed great fighting spirit to prevail 21-7, 21-19 to clinch the tie for Malaysia.
Malaysia's decision to experiment with scratch pairs saw Nur Izzuddin Rumsani-Soh Wooi Yik power past Phillipe Charron-Maxime Tetreault 21-7, 21-10.
Aaron Chia-Goh Sze Fei then completed the win by defeating Sankeerth-Nyl Yakura 21-14, 21-13.