The team badminton events at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games kicked off today, running through September 24 before individual competition takes over from the 25th to the 29th at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Japan. For Malaysia, the draw hasn't been kind.
The women's team, led by world number five doubles pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, opens against Hong Kong, a match Malaysia will be favoured to win. The real trouble starts after that, though, with a likely quarterfinal against third seed South Korea waiting on the other side, and Japan potentially lurking beyond that. Malaysia's women have only reached an Asian Games team podium once in history, a silver back in 1962.
The men's side faces its own uphill battle, and notably won't have Lee Zii Jia in the lineup. The Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist has had a rough go of it in 2026, battling injuries and a slide down the world rankings, though a strong Thomas Cup showing suggested he's finding form again. Malaysia's last Asian Games team medal in badminton came all the way back in 2014, a men's bronze under Lee Chong Wei's leadership. Breaking that drought will take a near-flawless run through a genuinely stacked field.
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