Giving their all: Man Wei Chong (left) and Tee Kai Wun in action against Taiwan’s Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han during their quarter-final match. — AP
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun will have to miss the show by their favourite K-pop star IU at the Axiata Arena tonight but it’s far from their minds.
The duo have bigger things to focus on – and that is to topple homesters Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza in the semi-finals of the Indonesian Open at Istora Senayan in Jakarta today.
The world No. 20 booked their spot in the semis after defeating world No. 25 Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han of Taiwan 21-17, 18-21, 21-10 in the quarter-finals yesterday while their Indonesian opponents knocked out Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan of Taiwan 21-17, 14-21, 21-16.
By surprising themselves to reach the semis means that the Malaysians won’t be back to catch IU perform, but it’s a small price to pay as they mark their best performance of the year so far in Indonesia.
“We have to focus on the tournament first, whether we get to see IU will be a matter of luck.
“Maybe we will just watch the performance on YouTube,” Wei Chong jokingly said.
Although IU will also be performing again on Sunday, Wei Chong-Kai Wun will have their full focus on entering the final, if they can get past world No. 29 Sabar-Moh and their legion of fans in Istora.
Although excited about making it far in the tournament, the pair are staying grounded as they know some aspects of their game that need improvement ahead of the match.
“We need to move more and match our speed with our opponents,” said Kai Wun.
“We’re very happy to have made it this far, but there are still matches to go. We didn’t expect this result because we tend to lose in the early rounds.”
Meanwhile, compatriots Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani failed to join the duo into the semis after losing 21-18, 18-21, 19-21 to world No. 2 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China in the quarter-finals yesterday.
