After three consecutive victories in the group stage, Malaysia’s hopes were halted by defending champions China, who denied the national juniors a place in the semi-finals.

Following the 0-2 defeat, Malaysia concluded its campaign in the team event.

China proved too strong throughout the tie, consistently applying pressure in every match.

In the opening match, Kong Wei Xiang fell to Jing Yu Luo (6-11), followed by Damien Ling and Muhammad Shazmir Irfan, who lost to Feng Yi Lang and Jian Zhen Wei (17-22) in a nine-minute contest.

In the women’s singles, Carine Tee was defeated by Yi Qing Yin (22-33), while Genevie Lim and Low Zi Yu were unable to overcome Ke Xuan and Wei Yue Yue in the women’s doubles (30-44).

The same outcome followed in the mixed doubles as Ahmad Redzuan and Low Zi Yu went down to Feng Yi Lang and Tan Ke Xuan (39-55), concluding the opening set.

Malaysia faced another uphill task in the second set with Wei Xiang falling 1-11 to Jing Yu Luo.

Isyraf Hafizin and Ahmad Redzuan were also defeated by Feng Yi Lang and Jian Zhen Wei (4-22) in a five-minute encounter, while Carine Tee went down to Yi Qing Yin (8-33).

Genevie Lim and Low Zi Yu were beaten 15-44 by Tan Ke Xuan and Wei Yue Yue before Ahmad Redzuan and Low Zi Yu fell 30-55 to Feng Yi Lang and Tan Ke Xuan in the final match of the tie.

Despite the defeat, the national juniors will now shift their focus to the individual event, which begins on 1 July.