Jakarta: 
Daren Liew survived a scare in the men’s singles event as he opened his bid to win the first point for Malaysia. The world number 86 was denied by world number 177, the 17-year-old Penang-born Loh Kean Yew in the first set as the teenager won 21-18. Daren Liew won the second set 21-15 but found himself on the verge of defeat before narrowly escape from a shocking upset with a 21-19 victory in the decider.
The Singapore camp morale was boosted by great performance of another teenager, 18-year-old Liang Xiaoyu in the women’s singles, when she played all out to crush world number 28 Tee Jing Yi of Malaysia to level the tie at 1-1.
Men’s doubles pair of Tan Wee Kiong-Tan Boon Heong kept up the pressure on Singaporean Loh Kean Hean-Terry Hee Yong Kai in the battle for the second point. The Malaysian duo cruised past their opponents winning 21-16, 21-17 in 21 minutes to put Malaysia ahead with a 2-1 overall lead.
Refused to give up, the very resilient Singapore hung tough through mixed doubles Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Tan Wei Han, when they salvaged pride in the final group match with 21-12, 21-18 victory over Chan Peng Soon-Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia to seal the tie at 2-2.
“We all feel relieved to be able to make it to Axiata Cup semi-finals despite the tough game against Singapore today,” said Malaysian coach Pang Cheh Chang.
“We are hoping for the best when we play Indonesia in the semi-finals this weekend,” added coach Pang.
After the matches have been completed on Wednesday, host Indonesia finished top of the standings with 24 points, All-Star Asia in second (19) followed by Thailand (19) and Malaysia in fourth position (17 points). All-Star Europe finished fifth (14), Vietnam sixth (9), Singapore seventh (7) and Philippines last on three points.
The top four teams will now feature in the semi-finals from Dec 6-7 at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in Cheras. However, the draw for the semi-finals will be held in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
