In with a chance: Chen Tang Jie (right) and Toh Ee Wei are well placed to qualify for the World Tour Finals. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: National mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto wants top pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei to grab the opportunity to make the cut for the World Tour Finals for the first time.
The prestigious season-ending tournament is set to held from Dec 13-17 in Hangzhou.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei are on course to qualify as they are currently in sixth spot in the Race to Finals rankings.
Only the top eight pairs make the cut and Nova wants his charges to maintain their position and not miss out.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei are the only mixed pair for Malaysia with a chance to qualify as independent pairs Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Tang Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing are far behind in 20th and 24th positions respectively.
“Tang Jie-Ee Wei have the opportunity to qualify for the Tour finals and they need to take it,” said Nova.
“They will be competing in the Korean Masters (Nov 7-12) as they need to grab valuable ranking points (to be sure of making the cut).”
Qualifying for the Tour Finals will be an impressive achievement for Tang Jie-Ee Wei, who had only been paired together last December.
The pair have progressed fast under the guidance of Nova since he joined the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in January.
Nova, though, is still not satisfied with Tang Jie-Ee Wei after the duo’s inconsistent showing in the current European tour.
The duo had crashed out in the second round of the ongoing French Open after suffering a shock 19-21, 15-21 defeat to Hong Kong’s world No. 24 Reginald Lee-Ng Tsz Yau in Rennes.
It was Tang Jie-Ee Wei’s first loss to Reginald-Tsz Yau after beating the latter in the Singapore Open in June and World Championships in August.
“Tang Jie-Ee Wei played badly against the Hong Kong pair,” lamented Nova.
“They had the chance to go further but could not take it.”
Tang Jie-Ee Wei had also suffered a second-round exit in the Denmark Open after losing 15-21, 12-21 to Thailand’s 2021 world champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai.
The Malaysians had stunned the Thai duo the week before en route to reaching the semi-finals of the Arctic Open.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will now be out to end their year on a high by performing well in the remaining tournaments and sealing their spot in the Tour Finals.
After the Korean Masters, they will compete in the Kumamoto Masters in Japan (Nov 14-19) and the China Masters in Shenzhen (Nov 21-26).
