Paddlers Javen Choong (left) and Wong Qi Shen bagged bronze in the men's doubles event at the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan.
PETALING JAYA: Javen Choong-Wong Qi Shen have done the unthinkable for Malaysian table tennis.
The unheralded Malaysian pair, only ranked 187th in the world, played their hearts out to shock the current world No. 1 ranked China pair Lin Shidong-Lin Gaoyuan 3-2 to reach the men’s doubles semi-finals in the Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan on Saturday.
Javen-Qi Shen showed incredible mental resilience to recover from a 0-11 thrashing in the third game to stun the Chinese pair in the next two games to seal a breakthrough victory.
The 11-8, 2-11, 0-11, 11-8, 11-7 win over the fancied Chinese pair send the Malaysians into the semi-finals and a guaranteed medal in hand.
Javen-Qi Shen had also done well by beating world No. 16 pair Jang Woo-jin-Cho Dae-seong of South Korea 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 13-11, 11-6) in the last 16 stage to set up a clash against the Chinese pair.
In the semi-finals, Javen-Qi Shen failed to get the better of Singaporean pair Koen Pang-Izaac Quek, going down 8-11, 3-11, 5-11, but were assured of their place in history as the first Malaysians to win an individual medal in the Asian championships.
Previously, Malaysia had only reached the semi-finals in the women’s team event back in 1968 and the men’s team event in 1970, both times settling for bronze.
Coach Beh Lee Wei was delighted with the performance of Javen-Qi Shen in winning Malaysia’s first medal at the Asian championships after 54 years.
“It’s a major breakthrough for Malaysian table tennis.
“Lin Shidong is ranked third in the world while Lin Gaoyuan is No. 8 in the world. In contrast, Javen is ranked 307th while Qi Shen is ranked 365th.
“We didn’t see this coming but huge credit to them for playing without fear.
"The key was capitalizing on crucial points,” said Lee Wei.
