The embarrassing loss, especially by the top men's double pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong, drew flak from even the Badminton Association of Malaysia's (BAM) coaching staff.
Koo-Tan, the former All England men's doubles champions, lost to unknown Taiwan pair Lee Sheng Mu/Tsai Chia Hsin in straight sets, 18-21, 18-21, in the opening match, to the disbelief of the fans present at the stadium.
The duo's loss was followed by Sonia Cheah's straight sets loss to Tai Tzu Ying, 21-7, 21-13 before Datuk Lee Chong Wei managed to reduce the deficit by beating Yang Chih Hsun 21-8, 21-19.
However, Taiwan's women's doubles pair Cheng Wen Hsing/Hsieh Pei Chen defeated Vivien Hoo Kah Mun/Woon Khe Wei, 21-17, 21-19 to earn their winning point.
Mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying managed to reduce the margin of defeat to a respectable level by beating Liu Ching Yao/Lai Chia Wen, 25-23, 21-11.
National head coach Rashid Sidek said he did not expect the top men's doubles pair, who were expected to deliver a winning point, fail to do so.
"Before the start of the match, the coaching team was very confident that the duo can deliver the first point, which is very important in setting the path for the victory," he said.
Echoing a similar sentiment was doubles coach Tam Kim Her who said Koo-Tan had lost their focus when the Taiwan duo staged a spirited fight.
"Today, they (Koo-Tan) played below their capability," he said.
Kim Her said he would call for a meeting with coaches to decide whether to retain Koo-Tan when playing against European champion Germany on Tuesday.
He was however, confident that Malaysia would be able to make it to the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Koo-Tan when met by reporters after their match admitted their mistake and promised to avenge their defeat against Germany.
"We will try to reduce our mistakes and work on our weaknesses because we made many mistakes to allow our opponents to win points through our mistakes at the net," said Koo.
- BERNAMA
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