Japan Back from the Brink

Seemingly headed for an impressive victory over Japan, Malaysia stumbled on the threshold, and had to settle for second place in Group B at the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2025. Japan thus narrowly avoided the prospect of facing another top-ranked team in the quarterfinals.

Leading the tie 2-1, and with Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik holding two match points in the third game against Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, things were going swimmingly well for Malaysia. But Hoki and Kobayashi dug in at the death and turned things around to level the tie, setting it up for Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama, who wrapped up the tie for Japan despite having to fend off a tenacious challenge from Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan.

Malaysia had had a great session until those missed match points. The opening mixed doubles took just 39 minutes, with Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei leading the charge. An aggressive Leong Jun Hao caused further damage to Japan with a three-game takedown of Kodai Naraoka with an exhibition of pace and attacking intensity.

“There was drift from one side, so it was better to be aggressive and positive,” said Leong Jun Hao. “It depended on conditions. On the World Tour I haven’t been consistent. This is my best performance in recent times.”

Chia and Soh struggled to contain their disappointment, but put a brave face on the loss.

“Both pairs played very well. They were patient and they were confident as they have beaten us a few times and they had the mental edge,” said Soh. “But we played a good game. We are disappointed to not deliver the point, but we gave our all; it wasn’t our day today.”

Alwi Leads for Indonesia

Meanwhile, in Group D, Indonesia completed a surprisingly one-sided defeat of Denmark, with Alwi Farhan’s defeat of Anders Antonsen being the highlight.

The 2023 World Junior champion showed he had the nerve and the smarts to match the experienced Dane, and kept his wits about him as he beat Antonsen 21-17 15-21 21-17.

That brought Indonesia level after Jesper Toft/Amalie Magelund had won Denmark’s opening match, a close 22-20 21-23 21-16 verdict over Rinov Rivaldy/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja.

In the wake of Farhan’s upset of Antonsen, Putri Kusuma Wardani routed Line Kjaersfeldt, 21-6 21-5, and Indonesia soon had the winning points through Mohammad Shohibul Fikri/Daniel Marthin.

“He took his chances and he got successful,” said Antonsen, who gave credit to Farhan. “I was not very sharp in my attacks and in my execution in the beginning. He was better than me. He’s a talented player and I’ve watched his videos. He’s a tricky player, with some disguise and trick shots. We’re going to see much more of him in the future.”