Work continues: National players who did not qualify for the World Tour Finals at a training session in Bukit Kiara. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star
Chen-Toh fired up to snap losing streak against Chinese and Japanese pairs
PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei are out to end their winless run against the current top two pairs in the world in the World Tour Finals from Dec 13-17 in Hangzhou.
World No. 9 Tang Jie-Ee Wei have never beaten China’s world No. 1 Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong and Japan’s world No. 2 Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino before and are looking to make a breakthrough in the prestigious season-ending tournament.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei have lost twice to the Japanese pair and three times to reigning Asian Games champions Siwei-Yaqiong this year.
“Nobody wants to lose and we sure want to beat the two pairs,” said Tang Jie in a pre-tournament press conference at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“Using the right strategy and our performance on the day are the keys to winning.
Payback time: Chen Tang Jie (back) and Toh Ee Wei have lost twice to Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino this year.
“Anything is possible on court and we will give everything to try to win.
“This is our last tournament for this year and we want to do well.”
The draw for the tournament will be released on Dec 11 and Tang Jie-Ee Wei are likely to be placed in the same group as one or both of the pairs.
The other pairs that they could face are another Chinese combination Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping, South Korea’s reigning world champions Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung, Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun, Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai and Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet.
On Tang Jie-Ee Wei’s chances in the tournament, national coach Nova Widianto said: “It will be tough but they have beaten all the pairs in the competition at least once except Siwei-Yaqiong and Watanabe-Higashino.
“And they do also stand a chance against these two pairs if they can play with confidence.”
