KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian junior mixed team squad on Wednesday were handed a favourable draw for the World Junior Championships in Spokane, the United States, next month.
Malaysia, who are joint third seeds in the competition, are in Group C with England, Latvia, Austria and Poland. Only group winners from each of the eight groups will advance to the knockout stage.
The draw ceremony took place at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. BAM deputy development director Joanne Quay said: "It is a fair draw.
"The juniors should clear the group stages to reach the quarter-finals," she said.While it is a shoo-in for Malaysia to reach the last eight, recent results have not been convincing.
At the Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta last month, the Malaysian mixed team crashed out in the quarter-finals after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Thailand.
The last time Malaysia got past the quarter-finals of the world meet was in 2017, when they reached the final before succumbing 3-1 to China.
Malaysia won the title in the 2011 Taiwan edition.