From Amiril Muttaqien Meketar
HORSENS, Denmark: All players in the national women’s badminton squad are prepared to face a challenging test against defending champions China in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Uber Cup at Forum Horsens tomorrow.
Team manager, Datuk Chong Juong Chain, believes the players fielded will fight with all their might to provide fierce competition against the most successful team in Uber Cup history, which holds 16 titles.
“What I can say at this moment is that our players are in ‘ready mode’ and ready to fight. Regardless of who the opponent is, whether it’s China or any other team, we still want to fight – that is what’s most important,” he told Bernama immediately after the knockout stage draw here on Wednesday.
On paper, China holds the advantage in every aspect, boasting a lineup of world-class stars including world number two Wang Zhi Yi, Chen Yu Fei (No. 4), and Han Yue (No. 5), as well as the world number one doubles pair Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning.
Malaysia, competing without key player Pearly Tan due to a recent back injury, is led by her partner M. Thinaah while others include the young doubles pair ranked 143rd in the world, Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, and the nation’s top women’s singles player, K. Letshanaa (No. 33).
Zi Yu-Noraqilah could serve as the country’s secret weapon following their impressive performance so far, which included upsetting world number seven pair Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi 21-17, 12-21, 21-19 during the national team’s 1-4 loss to six-time champions Japan in their final Group B match last Monday.
Malaysia advanced to the quarter-finals as the runners-up of Group B, while China entered as the winners of Group A.
Only the top two teams from each group qualify for the quarter-finals.
This marks the first time in 16 years that Malaysia has reached the quarter-finals, having previously qualified only three times in 2004, 2008, and 2010.
The national squad opened their Group B campaign by defeating Turkiye 3-2, followed by a 5-0 sweep of South Africa, which confirmed their slot in the quarter-finals.
The 2026 Uber Cup competition, which began on April 24, is set to conclude on May 3. – BERNAMA
