How Close Was It? Team Malaysia's World Cup Run Ends 3-4 to the Netherlands

Team Malaysia's Open Team campaign at the Pickleball World Cup 2026 is over, ending in a hard-fought 3-4 loss to the Netherlands in the Round of 32 in Da Nang, Vietnam. The result closes out a run that, days earlier, had the squad sweeping through the group stage and drawing national TV coverage back home.

The Group Stage: Two Wins Out of Two

Malaysia opened its campaign with a clean 5-0 sweep of Jamaica: 21-11 in Women's Doubles, 21-16 in Men's Doubles, 21-14 and 21-8 across the two Mixed Doubles rubbers, and a tight 22-20 finish in Men's Singles that the team's own account credited to a standout comeback performance from Timmm Foo.

The second group match, against Brazil, was closer, a 4-2 win that clinched top spot in the group. Malaysia dropped Men's Doubles (16-21) and Women's Singles (14-21), but took Women's Doubles (21-17), Mixed Doubles twice (21-16, 21-16), and Men's Singles (21-16) to seal the group.

A Group Win That Made the News Back Home

Topping the group was enough to earn the squad, captained by Jimmy Liong, a "Juara Kumpulan" (group champion) segment on TV3's Buletin news back in Malaysia, a rare moment of national broadcast attention for the sport.

The Round of 32: A Game Away From the Next Round

The Round of 32 tie against the Netherlands went the full seven rubbers. Malaysia took Men's Doubles (21-16), Mixed Doubles 2 (21-13), and Men's Singles (21-11), but lost Women's Doubles (13-21), Mixed Doubles 1 (16-21), Women's Singles (8-21), and the deciding Full Bracket match (17-21), for a final 3-4 scoreline. The squad, fielding Jimmy Liong, Sabrina Gee, Loh Shi Sheng, Joey Yan Wong, Syduzii, Timmm Foo, Neem Shamsuddin, and Mia Azizul, had led after two games before the Netherlands pulled it back.

The team's own account credited the players' fighting spirit throughout and pointed to 2027 as the next chance to go further, rather than treating the loss as the end of the story.

Backed by a Real Support Structure

The campaign was built on a formal support network: Franklin Malaysia as sponsor, OnCourt Malaysia and ReSkills as strategic partners, and KBS Malaysia's official sanctioning of the team's World Cup bid. That structure is what let a team with a genuinely tight final loss still walk away with two group-stage wins, a national TV segment, and a real account of every rubber along the way.

Malaysia's junior squads, competing separately at the same tournament under different rosters, are still in action as of this writing.

This article is based on social media posts and historical data tracked by Pickle361.