Singapore's men reach Badminton Asia Team Championships semi-finals, book Thomas Cup spot

SINGAPORE: The Singapore men's badminton team have reached the last four of the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Malaysia, and booked a spot in the Thomas Cup in the process.

In their final Group B outing in Shah Alam on Friday (Feb 18), they thrashed Kazakhstan 5-0 to put themselves in the driver's seat for a semi-final spot.

Malaysia's 3-2 win over Japan, which came later, then confirmed Singapore's second-placed finish in the group, and passage into the knock-out round.

World No 12 Loh Kean Yew gave Singapore a winning start, beating Artur Niyazov 21-12, 21-17, before world No 104 Jason Teh defeated Khaitmurat Kulmatov 21-12, 21-8 to make it 2-0.

Lim Ming Hong then made it three in a row for Singapore, beating Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-12, 21-14 in 25 minutes. 

In the doubles, Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo made short work of their opponents Jangir Ibrayev and Ilya Lysenko with a 21-3, 21-5 win in 15 minutes. 

Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Andy Kwek then completed the rout with a 21-7, 21-5 victory over Andrey Shalagin and Makshut Tajibullayev.

All semi-finalists earn a spot in May's Thomas Cup in Thailand.

Singapore will play defending champions Indonesia at the Setia City Convention Centre on Saturday.