Malaysia are through to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup Finals in Aarhus, Denmark after outplaying Canada 5-0 in their Group D opener at the Ceres Arena on Tuesday (Oct 12).

Captain Lee Zii Jia (pic) put Malaysia ahead when he brought fast rising 19-year-old Brian Yang back down to earth with a comfortable 21-18, 21-13 win in 38 minutes.

“Brian has upset quite a few top players and everyone was looking at whether he would upset me today,” said Zii Jia in the post-match interview.

“I had to be stronger than him.

The victory over Canada was certainly sweet as it came a day after national women’s team were beaten 1-4 by the same opponents in the Uber Cup competition.

Malaysia will take on Japan tomorrow in the battle for top spot in Group D.

Japan had earlier beaten Canada 4-1.

It’s the only group with three teams following the withdrawal of England in the eleventh hour.