The Malaysian men's team successfully achieved their objective of being at the top of Group C after winning over the South Korean team with a close 3-2 victory in the ongoing 29^th Thomas Cup Finals badminton team championships on Tuesday at the Kunshan Sports Center in Jiangsu, China.

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According to The Star, the Malaysian team rode on the singles players, who provided all three points, while the strategy to put scratch pairings in the doubles failed. 

Current world No. 2 Lee Chong Wei got the ball rolling and gave the Malaysian the upper hand by beating world No. 9 Son Wan-ho in two straight sets 21-18, 21-15. The reigning Asian badminton king wrapped up the victory in just 49 minutes.

The dynamic combination of the current men's doubles No.1 Yoo Yeon Seong and Lee Yong Dae eased past the scratch pair of V Shem Goh and Kien Keat-Goh 21-16, 11-21. The Korean pair just needed 40 minutes to even the Group C match to 1-all.

However, in the third match, world No. 36 Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin regained the lead for Malaysia by getting the better of incumbent world No. 16 Lee Dong Keun. The 24-year-old Kuala Lumpur-born right-handed shuttler took the match in just 48 minutes, claiming the victory with 21-17, 21-15. 

The badminton match became more interesting as the Koreans fought back strongly to bring the contest to a tie through the tandem of Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang, who dispatched the Malaysian pair of Boon Heong Tan and Wee Kiong Tan in two straight sets 21-14, 24-22 that lasted for 38 minutes, according to the official website of the BWF.

It was up to the 228-year-old Sungai Petani, Kedah native Chong Wei Feng to come up with the winning point, and the world No. 67 lived up to the challenge by defeating world No. 28 Jeon Hyeok-jin 21-16, 21-16 in the decisive third singles match.    

Malaysia remains undefeated in Group C, and will go into the knockout stages as one of the top four seeds. 

Tagschong wei feng, Lee Chong Wei, bwf 2016, bwf rankings, thomas & uber cup