PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Toh Ee Wei is proud to emulate her coach.
Ee Wei created history with Chen Tang Jie by becoming the first Malaysians to capture the mixed doubles title in the World Championships.
The world No. 4 pair were not among the favourites for the crown but defied the odds when they stunned China's world No. 2 Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin 21-15, 21-14 in the final at the Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle in Paris on Sunday.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei emulated their coach Nova Widianto, who won the title for Indonesia with Liliyana Natsir in 2005 in Anaheim before repeating the feat in 2007 in Kuala Lumpur.
Ee Wei was thrilled to equal Nova's feat in 2005 and credited the coach for never losing faith in her and Tang Jie during tough times.
"I'm happy that Tang Jie and I have become world champions just like coach Nova," said Ee Wei.
"We could not done this without him. He always believed in us and stood by us.
"Even when we lost confidence, he never lost faith in us. We appreciate him and we are very thankful that we have a coach like him.
Tang Jie said: "We are very happy as when we struggled, he advised us to keep focusing on training and told us that we have the ability to challenge the whole world. Before every match, he will tell us that we can win."
Nova joined the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) at the end of 2022 which was the same time that Tang Jie was combined with Ee Wei.
The Indonesian did not take long to work his magic, guiding the pair to the world's top 10 less than a year later.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei thrilled fans with their dynamic style of play and fighting spirit on court.
The pair won the World Tour Super 300 Taiwan Open and Orleans Masters in 2023 before adding the Super 500 Korean Open last year.
The duo were the only Malaysian mixed doubles pair to qualify for the Paris Olympics last August and did well to progress to the quarter-finals.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei then created history by becoming the first Malaysians to reach the mixed doubles final in the World Tour Finals last December in Hangzhou.
Although they lost to China's Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong, the duo received praise for their battling performance.
After coming close in the Finals and missing out on a medal in their debut Olympics, Tang Jie-Ee Wei finally claimed one of badminton's biggest titles in the world meet in Paris.
