Partnership resumed: Ee Wei (left) and Tang Jie have resolved their differences quickly and will play together again in the Singapore Open from May 27-June
PETALING JAYA: Good sense has prevailed.
After a brief split, mixed doubles shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei have made the right decision to reunite for the sake of their careers and the country.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei, who reached a career high No. 3 in the world in January, were shockingly split up last month due to their strained relationship over the past few months.
The pair though have resolved their differences quickly and will play together again in the Singapore Open from May 27-June 1.
Their decision also comes a day after Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh urged the players to review their decision as they would be dropped from the Road to Gold programme if they chose to go separate ways.
Yesterday, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) confirmed that Tang Jie-Ee Wei have decided to resume their partnership after approval from coaches Nova Widianto and Rexy Mainaky.
“Tang Jie and Ee Wei will be resuming their partnership in the mixed doubles event,” said BAM.
“The decision follows a request from the two players and following much discussion between the coaching team and the players.
“The duo, who previously reached a career-high world ranking of No. 3, will now refocus their efforts on the international stage, starting with the Singapore Open as they look to regain their top form.”
Tang Jie-Ee Wei’s decision comes as a boost for Malaysia ahead of the Sudirman Cup from April 27-May 4 in Xiamen, China, in which the duo have been included.
With their decision to reunite, the pair are likely to be played together in the mixed team meet, instead of forming scratch pairings, thus strengthening the country’s options.
World No. 3 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and world No. 14 Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin are the other mixed doubles pairs selected for the tourney.
If picked to play, Tang Jie-Ee Wei will be keen to bring out their best form after losing in the early rounds in the Orleans Masters and All-England last month.
The pair, who were first paired together at the end of 2022, proved that they have plenty of potential when they quickly rose to the world’s top 10 ranking within a year under Nova’s guidance and qualified for the Paris Olympics last August.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei made it into the last eight in the showpiece event.
In the World Tour, the duo captured the Super 500 Korean Open last year and the Super 300 Orleans Masters and Taiwan Open in 2023.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei also created history by becoming the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to reach the final of the World Tour Finals last December.
The pair narrowly missed out on the title but won praises for pushing China’s legendary duo Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong all the way.
