PETALING JAYA: It’s hardest to win a title at the famous Istora Senayan, especially against the home favourites.
Shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun though are hoping to defy the odds when they take on world No. 4 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in the Indonesian Masters men’s doubles final today.
There have been no Malaysian men’s doubles winners in the Indonesian Masters since its inception in 2010.
In fact, there had not been any men’s doubles champions at Istora since Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari upstaged home favourites Candra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan at the 2008 Indonesian Open.
Yesterday though, Wei Chong-Kai Wun showed they have the pedigree to end the long 17-year wait on the Indonesia soil when the world No. 13 pair upstaged seniors and world No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik 21-18, 21-15 in superb fashion in the last four in Jakarta.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun proved that their sole victory in three meetings before this against Aaron-Wooi Yik in the 2023 Arctic Open was no fluke as they brought out their A-game to come away with the win in just 31 minutes.
The younger Wei Chong-Kai Wun have reached their second final in Indonesia after finishing runners-up to China’s world No. 3 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang in the Indonesian Open last June.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun are out to end their wait for a title after standing on the highest podium at the Taiwan Open in 2023.
“We didn’t think that we could reach the final. We have another match tomorrow (today) and we hope we can get the best result,” said Kai Wun in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“The Indonesian fans are just beside the court and we cannot even hear each other sometimes. This pushes us to just play our game and fight hard.”
On their win over Aaron-Wooi Yik, Wei Chong said: “Before the match, we just prepared ourselves well because Aaron-Wooi Yik are our seniors and we did not have much pressure.
“So we could play better. They are fast and we needed to increase our tempo and be aggressive to win.”
Wei Chong-Kai Wun face a tough task in the final as they have never beaten 2022 champions Fajar-Rian before, losing in all four of their past encounters.
The Malaysians though came close to pulling off an upset in their last meeting in the Japan Masters second round last November before losing narrowly 17-21, 21-19, 19-21.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun also have broken the home fans’ hearts once before in Istora when they defeated another homesters Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza but it was in the semi-finals of the Indonesian Open last year.
Can they go all the way today?
