Malaysia’s campaign at the 2026 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) came to an end after all three national pairs were knocked out in the quarter-finals held in Ningbo, China on Friday.
Competing at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre, women’s doubles second seeds Pearly Tan and M Thinaah suffered a straight-sets defeat to China’s world No.9 pair Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min, going down 21-13, 21-15. The loss marked their second defeat in three meetings against the Chinese duo.
In the men’s doubles, top national pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik were also eliminated following a hard-fought battle against South Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju. Despite forcing a deciding set after taking the second game, the world No.2 Malaysians eventually fell 21-19, 16-21, 21-13 in a match that lasted one hour and 23 minutes.
Earlier, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei also exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage, sealing Malaysia’s overall early departure from the competition.
The results underline the growing intensity of competition at the continental level, with emerging pairs continuing to challenge higher-ranked opponents.
