Lee Chong Wei leads Malaysia to quarterfinals in Sudirman Cup

Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia returns a shot to Lee Dong-keun of South Korea during their group match of the 2015 Sudirman Cup BWF World Mixed Team Championships in Dongguan city, South China's Guangdong province, May 10, 2015. [Photo/IC]

DONGGUAN - With Lee Chong Wei won his second consecutive match after the sanction, Malaysia edged India 3-2 to secure the first place in group D and reach quarterfinals in BWF Sudirman Cup on Monday.

Malaysia is likely to avoid the early encounter with superpower China in the quarterfinals.

Lee upset the World No.4 Srikanth Kidambi 21-16, 21-15, gifting Malaysia lead 2-1 after they lost the men's double and won the women's single. India equalized after they won women's double in three games, only to see Malaysia's Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying overcome Sikki Reddy N./Arun Vishnu in two games.

"I don't think I was at my best rhythm, maybe only 70 percent of myself," Lee said.

Germany assured a quarter-final spot against Thailand. Grouped with superpower China, both Thailand and Germany needed the win to keep their hopes alive. Thailand had all the early momentum by winning the first two matches, but Germany managed a strong comeback to win the last three matches all in three games.