ranked Lee Chong Wei led Malaysia to a comfortable 5-0 victory over South Africa while England was knocked out of the Thomas Cup after losing 4-1 against Indonesia Monday. Malaysia will next play Denmark, with the winner of that contest deciding who finishes top of Group C. The loser may have to face favorite China in the semifinals. China beat England 5-0 in its first Group A match. Germany defeated United States 5-0 in Group D while Russia routed New Zealand by the same margin in Group B. Lee opened Malaysia's campaign with a 21-13, 21-10 win over South Africa's Jacob Malieka and showed that he is recovering well from a shoulder injury suffered in the All England final two months ago. “Today was very important even if the opposition was not strong,” Lee said afterwards. “Now there's still two months (before the Olympics), I am very scared to have new injury,” he said. “I will take care of my injury, take good rest, train well and do preparations good for the fight for this year's Olympics.” Indonesia's Simon Santoso gave his team a 1-0 lead with a comfortable win over Rajiv Ouseph before Olympic champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan were beaten by England duo Chris Adcock and Andrew Ellis 19-21, 21-14, 17-21. But seasoned campaigner Taufik Hidayat defeated Carl Baxter 21-12, 21-16 and later Mohammad Ahsan and Alvent Chandra beat Chris Langridge and Nathan Robertson 19-21, 21-12, 21-19. Hidayat said his team is confident it can win the Thomas Cup for the first time since 2002. “It is my dream, and the dream for the team, for Indonesia to get back the Cup from China,” Hidayat said. In the women's Uber Cup, Indonesia and Thailand were comfortable 5-0 winners against South Africa and Netherlands, respectively. Germany edged past Australia 3-2 while Denmark defeated United States 4-1. China and Indonesia have qualified for the quarterfinals from Group A after both defeated South Africa. Germany and South Korea are through to last eight from Group C after beating Australia. Denmark and Japan are through to quarterfinals after beating the US in Group D.
