PETALING JAYA: Playing in your first tournament together as a pair is never easy.
For newly formed national mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Yap Ling, it is going to be even harder as they are set to open their campaign in the Australian Open from Nov 15-20 in Sydney against teammates Hoo Pang Ron-Toh Ee Wei.
World No. 39 Pang Ron-Ee Wei will offer a stern test for Tang Jie-Yap Ling as the latter look to begin their journey as a pair on a high note.
Tang Jie is hoping to form a stable partnership with Yap Ling after a topsy-turvy year that saw him combine with Peck Yen Wei and Valeree Siow previously.
Yap Ling is also looking for a fresh start after failing to hit it off in the women’s doubles with Go Pei Kee.
“I hope my partnership with Tang Jie can be a good start for me. I will be focusing on mixed doubles now as I just switched from women’s doubles about two months ago,” Yap Ling had said.
If Tang Jie-Yap Ling do manage to spring a surprise and get the better of Pang Ron-Ee Wei, they are likely to face Indonesia’s world No. 16 Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas.
Pang Ron-Ee Wei themselves just returned to competitive action in the French Open after the former’s recovery from an eye infection.
The duo are looking to bounce back after losing to South Korea’s Yong Jin-Shin Seung-chan in the first round in Paris and will compete in the Hylo Open, starting tomorrow, first before turning their attention to the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, the others in the fray in Sydney are independent pairs Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, and Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing will play Indonesia’s Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Widjaja in the first round while Soon Huat-Shevon will meet Japan’s Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya.
Tien Ci-Chiew Sien were drawn to play a qualifier in the opening round.
Japan’s world No. 2 Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino, who are also the top seeds, will be the pair to beat in the tournament.
