Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch pulled off a sensational upset in the opening round of the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2025, knocking out defending champions and third seeds Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie to win 21-18 21-19.

Reflecting on the win, Vestergaard said, “I’m very happy. Maybe more relieved about the second game. We felt like we were playing well, but the nerves caught up with us. We’ve really been chasing these kinds of results this year.”

Busch pointed to the pressure moments as decisive. “We knew we had to serve well and return strong. I was nervous at the end and my serves weren’t great but somehow we got through it,” she said. This is the Danes’ first win over the Malaysian pair, having lost in their only previous encounter at the Thailand Masters in 2024. “The last time we played them we lost in three games, so this feels much better,” Busch added.

Playing in front of a passionate home crowd, Vestergaard acknowledged the challenge of facing Malaysians in their own backyard. “They’ve got amazing fans. Sometimes the crowd helps them but sometimes it can add pressure. If you take the initiative, you can feel that weight of expectation,” he said.

Lai admitted disappointment but chose to focus on the positives. “We really wanted to win it again this year. But sometimes things don’t go your way,” she said. “After struggling with injuries the past two weeks, I saw Soon Huat moving much better, like his normal self and that’s a good sign. He’s also trying out a new game style, which is positive. Although we’re disappointed, especially for the home fans, we want to come back stronger in the next few tournaments – Singapore and Indonesia.”

Vestergaard now prepares for a packed schedule in Kuala Lumpur, having also progressed to the men’s doubles round of 16 alongside Daniel Lundgaard after a testing match over Chen/Liu on Day 1 of competition. “Recovery is key when playing two categories. I’ll do some stretching, ice bath therapy and get some good food, which is easy here in Kuala Lumpur,” he said, adding his love for the city’s selection of food and dim sum.

Indian Trio Grab Limelight

It was a good day for Indian men’s singles as Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth all sealed wins at the Axiata Arena. Karunakarun got the party started with a big scalp over third seed, Chou Tien Chen, 21-13 21-14.

Shuttler, Shetty collected his second win over Brian Yang, 20-22 21-10 21-8. Speaking to BWF, he said: “I have defeated some of the Top 30 in the world over the past year and I think I’m becoming more confident. I’m tall and I like to capatalise my shots on my height. I grew up idolising Lee Chong Wei and I’m also a big Viktor Axelsen fan.”

2021 world champion silver medallist, Kidambi followed up later with a 23-21 13-21 21-11 win over Lu Guang Zu in 56 minutes. The 32-year-old fell during the Singapore Open 2024 and took some time off to recover from an injury. 2025 has seen the Indian play in eight events with his best result, a quarterfinals spot so far at the Thailand Masters in a bid to return to peak form.

“I’m happy and feeling positive. It’s nice to be back playing these kinds of tough matches and pain-free. I kept myself motivated while I was recovering and then I also got married so my break got extended a little bit more. Indian men’s singles is really steaming ahead, we have others like Rajawat and George in training and I try to give them the advice that confidence will come once you get one or two good wins at tournaments.”

→ Results (Day 2)

→ Order of Play (Day 3)

“My greatest enemy is myself. To my fans: I’m sorry to disappoint you. I always want a breakthrough but I just couldn’t do it.” – Goh Jin Wei

“Goh played with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude to fight back. She’s a very technical player and these are qualities I admire in her.”– Ratchanok Intanon pays her opponent Goh Jin Wei the compliments.

“I’m always thinking about how I can win and it’s been a long time since I played this well consistently. I’ve struggled with my game in the past year and I know I can rely on my experience to get me through matches like this. I’m a little jealous my coach had more media interviews than I did.” – Nhat Nguyen after his 10-21 21-18 21-9 win over Leong Jun Hao

“It was my debut at the Malaysia Masters and I told my coach before the match about my nerves. This is a big moment for my career and the experience was great for me. The fans were really loud and I had my whole family here (KL) to watch me. It added extra motivation for me.” – Hoh Justin after his first round defeat to Kodai Naraoka 21-14 22-20