Malaysia toiled to a 3-2 win over Türkiye in their opening Group B Uber Cup tie in Horsens Denmark.
Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah saved the blushes for the out sorts Malaysians, clinching the winning point by defeating Yaseman Bektas-Zehra Erdem 21-18, 21-19 in the second doubles.
The pair almost threw it away after leading 20-16 in the second game, only to see the Turkish pair saving three match points. There was no saying what could have happened if Yaseman-Zehra had forced the decider.
Earlier, 32-year-old Turkish number one Neslihan was outlasted by a player ten years her junior Letshanaa Karupathevan in the first singles. Ranked four rungs above the Malaysian lass, Neslihan surrendered the match 16-21, 21-13, 13-21 after a battle that lasted almost an hour.
Turkish number two, Ozge Bayrak defied her age and much lower rankings to stun Wong Ling Ching to level the tie.
The 34-year-old ranked 78th, relied on her experience to upstage her 22-year-old opponents who was ranked 40 rungs above her at 38.
Ozge won the grueling 67-minute match 21-17, 15-21, 21-18 putting the pressure on the Malaysians.
Former world junior champion and Youth Olympics champion Goh Jin Wei, showed that her long battle with injuries has not dampened her desire to excel.
The 26-year-old Jin Wei cruised to a 21-14, 21-13 win in just 31-minutes over unheralded Zehra Erdem in the second singles and restore Malaysia’s lead at 2-1.
Thinaah Muralitharan was paired off with Ong Xin Yee in the crucial first double tie after her regular partner Pearly Tan withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
But the pairing were given a rude awakening by the Turkish pairing of Bengisu Ercetin-Nazlican Inci. Bengisu-Nazlican overcame a close first game defeat to pull their side back level at 2-2, winning the 69-minute match 20-22, 21-19, 21-19.
Zi Yu-Noraqilah ensured a face-saving win in the second doubles for Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Japan showed the vast class difference between them and South Africa with an effortless 5-0 win in their opening Group B tie.
None of the south African players were even able to collect 10 points in any of the games they conceded. But it was the 21-2, 21-2 demolition of second singles Chloe Lai by Japan’s Riko Gunji that exemplified their domination.
In the Thomas Cup, Chinese Taipei cruised to a 5-0 win over Sweden in Group C.
RESULTS
THOMAS CUP
Group C
Chinese Taipei bt Sweden 5-0 (Chou Tien Chen bt Gustav Bjorkler 21-11, 18-21, 21-19; Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi-Lin bt Mio Molin-Max Svensson 21-17, 21-11; Chi Yu Jen bt Kim Linell 21-7, 21-11; Liu Kuang Heng-Yang Po-Hsuan bt Ludwig Axelsson-Filip Karlborg 21-15, 21-16; Lee Chia Hao bt Romeo Makboul 21-9, 21-15)
UBER CUP
Group B
Malaysia Türkiye
Letshanaa Karupathevan bt Neslihan Arin 21-16, 13-21, 21-13; Wong Ling Ching lost to Ozge Bayrak 17-21, 21-15, 18-21; Goh Jin Wei bt Zehra Erdem 21-14, 21-13; Ong Xin Yee-Thinaah Muralitharan lost to Bengisu Ercetin-Nazlican Inci 22-20, 19-21, 19-21; Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah bt Yaseman Bektas-Zehra Erdem 21-18, 21-19
Japan beat South Africa 5-0 (Akane Yamaguchi bt Johanita Scholtz 21-7, 21-10; Riko Gunji bt Chloe Lai 21-2, 21-2; Hina Akechi bt Elme de Villiers 21-7, 21-9; Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi bt Amy Ackerman-Johanita Scholtz 21-8, 21-4; Yuki Fukushima-Arisa Igarashi Elme de Villiers-Anri Schoonees 21-5, 21-6)
