Elated Wee Kiong hopes baby's impending arrival will spur him on

Happy news: Tan Wee Kiong is in the mood to celebrate after announcing that he and his wife Chia Shi Leng are expecting their first child in March.

PETALING JAYA: Tan Wee Kiong is hoping that the long-awaited baby news will inspire him to turn his poor badminton season around.

The 29-year-old Wee Kiong and his wife Chia Shi Leng, who tied the knot two years ago, are expecting their first child – a boy – in March. Shi Leng, 30, is four months pregnant.

On Sunday, a thrilled Wee Kiong took to Instagram to announce the pregnancy, garnering almost 10,000 likes from his followers.

“I’ll become a father soon! I’m so excited and really looking forward to welcoming our baby boy next March,” said Wee Kiong.

“This is the best-ever present for our 100th-month anniversary (since the start of the couple’s courtship)!”

On court, Wee Kiong has been struggling to impress with his partner Goh V Shem in the men’s doubles event this year.

“This good news has come at a perfect time as V Shem and I are hoping to make amends starting with the China Open next week,” said Wee Kiong.

“Hopefully, I can translate this joy into good performances on the court.”

The Rio Olympics silver medallists had to skip the Denmark and French Opens in the last two weeks following an ankle injury sustained by V Shem. V Shem has since recovered and is back in training.

The pair will be back in action at the Fuzhou China Open from Nov 6-11 and Hong Kong Open from Nov 13-18.

Wee Kiong admitted that he was nervous about embracing the new role as a parent.

“I’ve zero knowledge about being a father. My wife and I have been doing lots of research on the Internet and there are just so many things to learn,” he said.

“I’ll surely ask for some tips from teammates and experienced dads like (Lee) Chong Wei and (Chan) Peng Soon.

“I know it’s going to be tough next year as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification period starts in May. I will be away from home most of the time to compete in tournaments.

“But I’ll try not to miss the chance of seeing my baby grow day by day. Thankfully, we can make video calls now.”

For now, Wee Kiong’s immediate goal is to qualify for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China, from Dec 12-16.

Only the top eight from each of the five disciplines will qualify for the prestigious US$1.5mil (RM6.27mil) event.

The 2016 Superseries Finals winners V Shem-Wee Kiong are currently ranked 13th with 45,750 points in the race to Guangzhou rankings, trailing the eighth-placed Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen of China by 6,460 points.