PETALING JAYA: It was a muted birthday celebration for mixed doubles shuttler Chen Tang Jie (pic) yesterday.
Tang Jie turned 26 but there was no big bash as he wants to focus on his preparation with Toh Ee Wei for the Malaysian Open which starts on Tuesday at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
“I’m not having any special celebration this time as the Malaysian Open is close by and I want to focus fully on my preparations for the tournament,” said Tang Jie at a pre-tournament press conference at the Academy Badminton of Malaysia (ABM) yesterday.
“My birthday wish is for me and Ee Wei to stay healthy this year.
“We have our own targets but we can’t perform on court if we are not healthy.”
Tang Jie is eager to make it a memorable year with Ee Wei after progressing fast up the ranks with the latter since combining at the end of 2022.
Before that, the 26-year-old had struggled to reach a higher level after changing partners a few times.
Tang Jie though had clicked well with Ee Wei and are currently the No. 1 mixed doubles pair in the country and are ranked No. 9 in the world.He is still hungry to do even better with Ee Wei under the guidance of coaches Rexy Mainaky and Nova Widianto.
“I am happy with my progress with Ee Wei so far after failing to reach a high level with my previous partners but there’s more to achieve,” said Tang Jie.
“I want to learn more from my coaches, who have won Olympic medals and World Championships titles.
“Compared to them, I’m still nowhere, so I want to work harder to become like them. For now, my priority is to qualify for the Paris Olympics,” added Tang Jie.
Tang Jie will be competing in the Malaysian tourney for the second time with Ee Wei after losing to Thailand’s 2021 world champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the quarter-finals in their debut.
They will open their campaign against world No. 11 French pair Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue.
“This year, we need to fight even harder as it’s not easy for us with all the top pairs competing here. We need to play like we have nothing to lose.”
