Malaysia made a winning start to their Sudirman Cup campaign by edging darkhorses, England 3-2 in the Group D opener at Vantaa, Finland.

Malaysia’s spirited campaign came to an end with a 3-0 defeat to second seeds, Japan in the quarterfinals in Nanning, China.

A determined young Malaysian outfit proved their mettle by staging a fightback from 2-1 down to win the pivotal Sudirman Cup tie against India.

Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean were the toast of the team with an inspiring 21-11 21-19 performance against Ashwini Ponnappa-Sikki Reddy to seal a memorable 3-2 win.

Earlier, men’s singles Lee Zii Jia and men’s doubles Aaron Chia-Teo Ee Yi delivered pivotal points in the second and fourth ties to pull the country back into contention.

Malaysia’s youthful squad slumped to a 0-5 loss against China in the Group 1D opener in Nanning, China.

All England runners-up, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik was a whisker away from a famous victory over world No. 3 Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen in the opening tie, going down fighting 21-18 14-21 22-24.

National No. 2 woman’s singles, Soniia Cheah put up a credible fight against in-form Chen Yufei before losing 15-21 23-21 14-21.