Malaysian juniors top Group C, India await in last eight

Malaysia will face Group D winners India in the last-eight tie to be held later today, thus making amends for their group stage exit in last year's edition in Santander, Spain.

In their last Group C match held at The Podium, the national team drew first blood after mixed doubles duo Low Han Chen-Chan Wen Tse overcame Oliver Butler-Chloe Dennis 21-16, 21-17 in 28 minutes.

Buoyed by the good start, boys' singles Eogene Ewe showed his mettle to outclass Michael Pang 21-6, 21-9 to deliver the second point for Malaysia.

However, girls' singles Siti Zulaikha Muhammad Azmi had to claw back from a game down to see off Leona Lee 16-21, 21-18, 21-10 to get the winning point for the country, while boys' doubles Bryan Jeremy Goonting-Aaron Tai defeated Robin Harper-Harry Wakefield 21-12, 21-10 to bag the fourth point.

Girls' doubles Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting then completed the rout for Malaysia by thrashing Lucy Brierley-Tashvi Parab 21-11, 21-9 in the final action.

On Monday, Malaysia kicked off their Group C campaign in style as they overpowered Poland 4-1 in the opening match, followed by a 5-0 win over Austria and another 5-0 victory against Latvia on Tuesday.

In the last edition, Malaysia finished in ninth place after defeating Denmark 4-1.

To make matters worse, it was also the first time no national players qualified for the quarter-finals of the individual competition in Spain.

The last time Malaysia won a medal in the tournament was in the 2018 edition in Canada when Goh Jin Wei emerged as the girls' singles champion while Pearly Tan-Toh Ee Wei took home silver in the girls' doubles.