Back in the groove: Chen Tang Jie (right) and Toh Ee Wei beat Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin 21-14, 21-15 in the second round.
PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei desperately needed a breakthrough to end their mini slump and they did it at the Thailand Masters yesterday.
Never mind that they had to beat compatriots Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin 21-14, 21-15 in 32 minutes but it was good enough to take them to the quarter-finals in Bangkok after losing in the preliminary rounds in their last five tournaments.
The victory should boost their confidence and also restore their plight in the Olympic race where they are currently in a close battle with professionals Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie for the 2024 Paris mixed doubles slot.
National mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto was in mixed emotions.
“I’m happy to see Tang Jie-Ee Wei reach the quarter-finals but sadly, one of our pairs has to be out of the tournament. I hope Tang Jie-Ee Wei will use the opportunity to go as far as possible,” said Nova.
“It is very hard to gauge the pair’s true performance, especially when you are playing against teammates. We have to see how they would perform after this.”
Tang Jie hopes to step up in the last three months of Olympics qualifying period that will end in April. “What we need now is to get our momentum back and we are still learning how to compete consistently against our opponents,” said Tang Jie.
They face Holland's Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek today for a place in the semi-finals. The Dutch pair defeated Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 18-21, 21-15, 21-19 in the second round.
Soon Huat-Shevon wasted an opportunity to pick up valuable ranking points after going down 17-21, 21-17, 16-21 to Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu of Indonesia.
In the men’s singles, world No. 61 Cheam June Wei missed the opportunity to make it to the last eight after losing 7-21, 11-21 to world No. 51 Mark Caljouw of Holland in the second round.
Former international Ong Ewe Hock, who has been coaching him over the last three months, said June Wei had recently recovered from an injury which forced him to miss the earlier tournaments this year.
“June Wei has been gradually getting into full training and this is his first tournament of the year,” said Ewe Hock.
“He will be playing in a few super 300 tournaments in Europe next month and he should aim for better results there.”
His next tournaments are Orleans Masters (March 12-17), Swiss Open (March 19-26) and Spanish Masters (March 26-31).
Malaysia are also left without any representatives in the men's doubles following Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi's 23-25, 21-14, 14-21 defeat to Denmark's Andreas Sondergaard-Jesper Toft in the second round.
Second Round Results
Malaysians only
Men’s singles: Mark Caljouw (Ned) bt Cheam June Wei 21-7, 21-11.
Men's doubles: Andreas Sondergaard-Jesper Toft (Den) bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 25-23, 14-21, 21-14.
Mixed doubles: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei bt Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin 21-14, 21-15; Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu (Ina) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie 21-17, 17-21, 21-16; Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek (Ned) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 18-21, 21-15, 21-19.
