Breakthrough: Malaysia's Man Wei Chong (R) and Kai Wun Tee hit a return against Indonesia's Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza during their men's doubles semi-final match at the Indonesian Open in Jakarta. - AFP.
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun continued their dream run in the Indonesian Open by smashing into the final on Saturday (June 8).
Wei Chong-Kai Wun stood tall to beat world No. 29 homesters Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza 29-27, 21-13 in 45 minutes at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta.
The world No. 20 faced a tough challenge from Sabar-Moh Reza in a nail biting first game but stayed cool until the end to narrowly snatch the win.
Buoyed by their victory, Wei Chong-Kai Wun played superbly in the second game to come away with the win and break the hearts of the passionate home fans.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun have a steep hurdle against China’s world No. 2 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang next in the title match on Sunday (June 9). The Chinese pair had beaten Denmark’s world No. 4 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-13, 21-15 in another semis.
The Malaysians will need to be on top of their game to end their title drought this year and deny Weikeng-Wang Chang as they have never beaten the formidable Chinese duo in three meetings.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun were thrilled to reach their first ever World Tour Super 1000 competition final.
“In the first game, I told Wei Chong to just relax and play our own game and not be intimidated by the Indonesian fans,” said Kai Wun in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“We never expected to reach the final but we gained in confidence as the tournament progressed and we wanted to continue playing well,” said Kai Wun
“We are happy that we have came this far but our job is not over yet.
“We still have one more match to go and we want to do our best.”
Wei Chong-Kai Wun last reached a final in the Arctic Open last October where they came second best to Astrup-Rasmussen.
The national pair last captured a title in the Taiwan Open last July.
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik also reached the Indonesian Open final last year but they lost to India's Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. Can Wei Chong-Kai Wun go one step better than Aaron-Wooi Yik?
Malaysia last won the men's doubles title in the Indonesian Open through Mohd Zakry Abrul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari in 2008.
