Hot form: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei will play another South Korean pair in the last eight.
PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei have been growing from strength to strength as the young pair stormed into the quarter-finals of the German Open in Mulheim yesterday.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei outplayed world No. 10 and sixth seeds Seo Seung-jae-Chae yu-jung of South Korea 21-11, 24-22 in the second round to continue with their quick progress under Indonesian coach Nova Widianto.
The world No. 43, playing in their third world Tour event, will meet another South Korean combination Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun, who upset top seeds Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-15, 21-16, in the last eight today.
In the women’s singles though, Goh Jin Wei stumbled in the second round after a 21-10, 21-13 defeat to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong.
Malaysia’s men’s singles hopeful Lee Zii Jia was a semi-finalist in the German Open last year but his world has changed much since then.
Zii Jia had just become an independent player before he competed at last year’s event in Mulheim and had also hired Indra Wijaya as his coach and Liew Daren as a sparring partner.
Fast forward, Zii Jia has severed ties with Indra and has been involved in a court wrangle over the Indonesian’s removal as coach.
Daren has now taken up the role as a part-time coach and Zii Jia’s current mission in the ongoing German Open is to regain his confidence and nothing else.
Zii Jia, the top seed, started well with a 21-11, 21-5 win over qualifier Magnus Johannesen of Sweden in the first round on Wednesday.
The win was routine for Zii Jia but the world No. 4 has been going through some tough times and he would take the result in his effort to bounce back from a series of early round defeats in the last few months.
Meanwhile, world No. 8 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi beat Taiwan scratch pair Lee Fang-chih-Lee Yang 17-21, 22-20, 21-15 in 75 minutes to advance to the second round.
Women’s doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have also started their European campaign with an easy 21-7, 21-8 win over Ireland’s Moya Ryan-Kate Frost in the first round on Wednesday.
