PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun have built a reputation for their fearlessness, often standing tall against top opponents on rival turf.
And the world No. 7 pair will be out to summon the same courage at the World Championships in Paris.
The world No. 19 French brothers Christo and Toma Junior Popov await them in the second round today at the Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle but Wei Chong and Kai Wun are not expected to be fazed by the partisan home crowd.
Christo and Toma should get past Australia’s Keith Edison-Jack Yu in the first round while Wei Chong-Kai Wun have received a first round bye.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun memorably stunned Indonesia’s No. 1 duo Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto to capture the Indonesian Masters title in the famously intimidating Istora Senayan stadium in Jakarta in January.
They also pulled off an impressive win over Fajar-Rian’s teammates Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza in the semi-finals of the Indonesian Open in the same venue last year.
On paper, the Malaysians have never lost to the French brothers before, winning both their past meetings in the Japan Masters last November and Malaysian Open in January.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun are aiming for another win to get their campaign off to a smashing start.
“Our preparations over the past two weeks have been good. We are ready for the tournament,” said Kai Wun.
“We want to play our best. The most important thing is our performance on court. We need to translate what we have been doing in training in matches.”
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will be competing in their second world meet after making their debuts in the last edition in 2023 in Copenhagen.
Then, the duo went down to China’s world No. 6 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang in the third round.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun believe they have improved since then and are keen to do much better this time around.
“We feel that our standards have gone up since 2023. We are seeded this time, so we do feel we have a chance to go further. We hope to win a medal,” said Wei Chong.
“We don’t want to overthink though and put too much pressure on ourselves. We just want to take this like any other tournament and give it our best shot.”
