KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia ended their Uber Cup campaign in Chengdu on a winning note when they defeated Australia 4-1 to finish third in Group B.
In a bid to salvage some pride following a 5-0 humiliation by Thailand on Monday, Goh Jin Wei got the ball rolling in the opening singles by outplaying Tiffany Ho 21-6, 21-12 in just 29 minutes.
But Australia pulled level through their top doubles pair Setyana Mapasa-Angela Yu, who edged Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing 21-15, 21-17.
The win, however, hardly came as a surprise as the reigning Oceania champions are regular World Tour competitors and currently ranked No. 32 in the world.
The Australian pair were semi-finalists at the Swiss Open in March and have qualified for the Paris Olympics.
Fortunately, Wong Ling Ching restored order for Malaysia with an impressive 21-16, 21-3 win over Sydney Tjonadi before Ho Lo Ee-Tan Zhing Yi battled to a 21-12, 13-21, 21-10 win against Kaitlyn Ea-Gronya Somerville to seal the third and winning point.
Siti Zulaikha, making her debut, did not disappoint as she defeated Isabella Yan 21-10, 21-10 to make it 4-1.