Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia's revered badminton team captain, has appealed to the nation's passionate fans for calm ahead of the host's crunch Thomas Cup quarter-final tie against Denmark.

Malaysia go into the quarter finals without having won a match, after being awarded a walkover when Nigeria failed to turn up on Sunday and losing 3-2 to Japan on Tuesday.

Their defeat against Japan was compounded when Fairuzizuan Tazari retaliated to heckling and a rude gesture from a fan.

Chong Wei said: "Nobody wants to lose. But there are factors that have a bearing on players winning or losing. We hope the spectators will be more sporting and not jeer the players.

"The players will feel pressured if they are jeered at on home ground, and this is not good for team spirit."

Malaysia will have to up their game if they want to win the Thomas Cup in front of their fans, 1,000 of whom jeered the Japan defeat.

Malaysia and Denmark were the two dominant forces at March's All England badminton Championships in Birmingham. Chong Wei won his first singles title in the UK while Denmark's Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen won the men's doubles title.