PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei hope their historic success in the World Championships will inspire their juniors in the mixed doubles.
Mixed doubles has not been Malaysia's strongest event in the past, with the country relying more on men's doubles or men's singles for glory in the biggest events.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei hope this will change after becoming the first mixed doubles pair from the country to win the world title nearly two weeks ago in Paris.
"Mixed doubles have not received enough attention in the past and we hope to change this," Tang Jie said on Friday (Sept 12).
"We hope what we have achieved will inspire more players.
"We want to show that mixed doubles can achieve glory too for Malaysia."
Currently, Tang Jie-Ee Wei are the country's No. 1 pair and are ranked No. 3 in the world, followed by world No. 8 independent duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin (No. 14).
There is a lack of depth, though, with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) over-reliant on Tang Jie-Ee Wei and Pang Ron-Su Yin.
The reigning world champions themselves were only combined at the end of 2022 and clicked instantly.
The pair captured the World Tour Super 300 Taiwan Open and Orleans Masters in 2023.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei also qualified for the Paris Olympics in August last year and went on to reach the quarter-finals in their maiden appearance in the showpiece event.
The duo continued to impress when they won the Super 500 Korean Open just a month after the Olympics.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei then created history when they became the first Malaysians to reach the mixed doubles final in the World Tour Finals in December and finished runners-up after going down fighting to China's Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong.
Their journey, though, was far from smooth as the pair split up in March over personal differences before resolving their issues and reuniting less than a month later.
Tang Jie believes that the challenge will not be any easier for them after their triumph in Paris.
"Ee Wei and I did not suddenly become world champions. Every experience we gained from our past tournaments helped us to win this title.
"In our future tournaments, we will definitely taste the sweetness of winning as well as the bitterness of losing again.
"So, we need to be humble and keep fighting for our country. We are just thankful that we can keep playing the sport we love," he said.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will return to action in the China Masters, which starts on Tuesday (Sept 16) in Shenzhen.
The duo will open their campaign against Americans Chen Zhi Yi-Francesca Corbett.
