Despite giving their all, a dejected Nur Izzuddin acknowledged that today was simply not their day. “It was not meant to be. We need to discuss with the coach to see where we fell short,” he told reporters after the match.

Sze Fei said there was still much room for improvement on their gameplay.

Today’s heartbreaking loss shattered Malaysia’s hopes of ending a 32-year title drought in the Thomas Cup, the world men’s team championships.

Malaysia were trailing China 2-1 when Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin took to the court, with a chance to salvage the situation in the fourth match against He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu.

Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, ranked world number 15, gave Malaysians a glimmer of hope by winning the first game 21-18, but the Chinese pair staged a remarkable comeback, winning the next two games 21-19, 21-12 in 63 minutes to send Malaysia packing, and China into the final.

Professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia, who tamely lost in the first match of the day, admitted that after going down 19-21 in the first game, he struggled to keep up with China’s world number 2 Shi Yu Qi in the second game, a turning point for the Chinese player to demolish Zii Jia 21-5.

Team captain Soh Wooi Yik said communication between him and his partner Aaron Chia was key in their come-from-behind 15-21, 21-12, 21-17 win over Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang, which gave Malaysia a consolation point.

“We know each other well; we trust each other. It was a good experience for us in such a major tournament,” he said.

Second singles player Leong Jun Hao said that after losing the first game 17-21, his strategy to play aggressively in the second game backfired as 2022 Asian Games champion Li Shi Feng read his game well and won 21-10 to put China 2-1 up.

China, who have won the cup 10 times, will play Indonesia in the final after the 14-time champions thumped Taiwan 3-0 in the other semi-final tie.