File photo of Malaysia's mixed doubles shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: It was double delight for Malaysia as scratch mixed doubles pairs - Chen Tang Jie-Chan Wen Tse and Loo Bing Kun-Toh Ee Wei powered their way to the quarter-finals of the Taiwan Open.
Both pairs however, had to work hard for their wins in the second round at Taipei Arena on Thursday (May 8).
Tang Jie and Wen Tse pulled off a thrilling comeback to keep their campaign alive, edging past Indonesia’s Marwan Faza-Aisyah Pranata in a tense three-game battle. The seventh seeds dropped the opening game but recovered strongly to secure an 18-21, 21-18, 21-17 victory in 51 minutes.
Earlier, Ee Wei, who originally partners Tang Jie in mixed doubles, showed her class again alongside Loo Bing Kun.
It was a tough task for Ee Wei-Bing Kun as their opponent Jeong Na-eun is a silver medallist at the Paris Olympics last August and is now playing with Ki Dong-ju.
Ee Wei-Bing Kun had to dig deep after dropping the first game but bounced back with a gritty performance to force a decider, then took full control in the third game to clinch a 15-21, 23-21, 21-8 win against Dong-ju-Na-eun.
In the quarter-finals on Friday, Ee Wei-Bing Kun will meet Indonesia’s Dejan Ferdinansyah-Siti Fadia, while Tang Jie-Wen Tse will go up against another Indonesian pair, Bobby Setiabudi-Melati Oktavianti.
