Rare feat: Toh Ee Wei (left) and Chen Tang Jie achieved their aim to qualify for the Tour Finals after pairing up for just one year.
KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles player Toh Ee Wei revealed that Chen Tang Jie’s aim was to compete in the World Tour Finals when they started as a pair 12 months ago and she is happy that it has become a reality.
The World Tour Finals, which is being held in Hangzhou from today until Sunday, is the season finale where the top eight pairs, including the reigning world champions, compete for honours and a share of the total prize money of US$2.5 mil (RM11.7mil).
The top two pairs from each group will advance to the crossover semi-finals.
“When we started our partnership, Tang Jie said he wanted to play in this tournament. We didn’t have a specific target of qualifying but we kept our focus for every match and I’m happy we have made it,” said Ee Wei.
“Our partnership is just a year old and things have been good for us.”
It will not be easy for Tang Jie-Ee Wei as they are in Group A with world No. 2 Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan, world No. 4 Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping of China and world No. 6 Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand.
Group B consists of world No 1. Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong, South Korea’s world champions Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung, Hong Kong Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong and another South Korean pair Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun.
Tang Jie believes that they can give a strong resistance in the group stage although they will be up against established pairs.
“On paper, we are the underdogs but that doesn’t mean that we are not here to win. We will give our best although we are the underdogs in the group,” said Tang Jie.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei also said that they had a solid two weeks of training before the tournament and are looking forward to a good start in their opening group match against Yan Zhe-Dongping today.
Malaysia’s only other qualifiers, men’s doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will also have tough fixtures in Hangzhou where they will be in a battle royale against world No. 1 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China, former world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan and another strong China combination Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi in Group A.
Group B comprises Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto, world champions Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung Jae of South Korea, Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and a second Indonesian pair Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, the 2022 world champions, did not fare well last year after being shown the exit in group stage and they will have to be at their best to survive Group A in the presence of twin Chine threats this time.
However, Aaron has spoken about doing well in the tournament and also are aiming to become the world No. 1 for the first time.
“Last push for the year before 2023,” was the brief message by Aaron on his Instagram account.
National doubles coach Tan Bin Shen has also urged Aaron-Wooi Yik to give a good account of themselves before starting the final stretch of the qualifying race next month.
The top Malaysia pair has never reached the semi-finals of the World Tour Finals in their previous three attempts.
“All the pairs here are of equal strength and Aaron-Wooi Yik must be well prepared mentally and physically,” said Bin Shen.
“They must be focused and challenge themselves to perform better.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik will open their campaign against Hoki-Kobayashi today.
In the men’s singles, defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark is expected to be challenged by China duo Li Shenfeng and Shi Yuqi for the title.
Axelsen is in Group A with Yuqi, Kodai Naraoka and Anthony Ginting while Asian Games champion Shifeng is in Group B with world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Jonatan Christie of Indonesia and Denmark’s Anders Antonsen.
