Splendid: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei celebrate after beating France’s Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue in the semi-finals at the World Championships. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: Reigning world champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei are determined to give Malaysia’s mixed doubles the spotlight it deserves.
And in doing so, inspire more youngsters to follow their path.
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.
After becoming the first mixed doubles pair from the country to win the world title nearly two weeks ago in Paris, Tang Jie-Ee Wei are ready to smash the poor perception of the event.
“Mixed doubles have not got enough attention in the past and we hope to change this,” said Tang Jie.
The pair believe their success can spark a new wave of belief among upcoming shuttlers. “We hope what we have achieved will inspire more players. We want to show that mixed doubles can achieve glory too for Malaysia,” he added.
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 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 last August 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 last 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 due to personal differences before resolving their issues and reuniting quickly less than a month later.
Tang Jie believes that the challenge would get tougher as all would be eyeing for their scalps from now on.
“Ee Wei and I did not suddenly become world champions. Every experience we gained from our past tournaments helped us to win this title,” said Tang Jie.
“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.”
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will return to action in the China Masters starting on Tuesday in Shenzhen.
The duo will open their campaign against Americans Chen Zhi Yi-Francesca Corbett.
