Stellar feat: Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in action against Indonesia’s Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin during the semi-final match. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
MAN Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun gave arguably the best performance of their career to pull off a stunning 21-17, 22-20 victory over Indonesia’s world No. 9 Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin to storm into the final of the Malaysian Masters at the Axiata Arena yesterday.
It was the Malaysian world No. 26 pair’s second straight upset in the tournament after they had toppled Leo-Daniel’s teammates and three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan a day before.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun, who had been dogged by injuries and poor form prior to the tournament, played with aggression and intelligence throughout the match to come away with the huge win much to the delight of the passionate home fans.
The pair started well and stormed to a 13-8 lead.
The Indonesians tried to fight back but Wei Chong-Kai Wun stood firm to wrap up the first game.
In the second game, it was a closer affair with the home duo leading 11-10 at the interval.It was then neck-and-neck throughout and Wei Chong-Kai Wun had an opportunity to win the match when they led 20-19 but Leo-Daniel refused to give in and drew level at 20-20.
But the Malaysian pair were not to denied and went on the attack to snatch the next two points and secure the win.
“It feels great to win as we have reached our first World Tour Super 500 final,” said a delighted Wei Chong.
“This is a breakthrough for us as we kept losing in the early rounds of tournaments for quite some time.”
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will take on South Korea’s world No. 16 Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae for the title today.
The Koreans had stunned 2021 world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 21-18, 12-21, 21-16.
It will be Wei Chong-Kai Wun’s first final since capturing the Taiwan Open last July.
“We will discuss with our coaches on how to handle our opponents in the final,” said Wei Chong.
“We will focus on preparing well mentally and go out there and enjoy the match.”
