PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttler Toh Ee Wei had to skip last year’s Denmark Open after receiving 16 stitches following a freak gym accident.
Yesterday, however, the 25-year-old Ee Wei made up for her absence in style by reaching the semi-finals for the first time with Chen Tang Jie at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense in sheer style.
In their only Denmark Open outing in 2023, Tang Jie-Ee Wei had lost in the second round.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei, riding high from winning the world title in August, gave a polished show to beat seniors Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie 21-17, 21-11 in just 38 minutes in the quarter-finals.
It was their fifth win in eight meetings, proving that they had left the pros by miles in standard this year.
Said a delighted Tang Jie: “We had to miss last year’s Denmark Open due to the mishap to Ee Wei but today, we have reached our first-ever semis here.
“All is looking good so far,” he added.
The fourth seeds Tang Jie-Ee Wei will next face the winners of the quarter-final clash between Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin of China and Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje of Denmark but it will be tough against either one of them.
They had beaten the world No. 1 Zhenbang-Yaxin at the recent world championships final and can expect their opponents to return full force for a revenge.
As for the Danes, they had lost to them at the Macau Open semis this year, and with home advantage, it will be a challenge too.
Meanwhile, seasoned campaigners Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub came close to joining Tang Jie-Ee Wei in the semis but went down fighting 19-21, 18-21 to Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China.
A day ago, they had served a stunner by dumping world No. 1 Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae of South Korea in the second round.
Wee Kiong, however, was still proud of their run.
“Our performance was okay overall. Hopefully, we’ll get another opportunity to get the better of this Chinese pair,” said Wee Kiong.
“Our consistency and quality were lacking, but overall, this outing has been special and will only motivate us to do better.”
Their next tournaments are the French Open next week, followed by the Hylo Open, and Wee Kiong is hoping to keep his good run with Azriyn going.
In men’s singles, Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie stormed into the semi-finals after beating China’s Li Shifeng 21-18, 21-23, 21-17 in the last eight.
RESULTS
Quarter-finals
Men’s singles: Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Li Shifeng (Chn) 21-18, 21-23, 21-17.
Men’s doubles: Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) 21-19, 21-18;
Women’s singles: An se-young (Kor) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 16-21, 21-9, 21-6;
Women’s doubles: Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-23, 21-18, ..........
Mixed doubles: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie 21-17, 21-11;
Second round
Women’s doubles: Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting (Mas) 19-21, 21-10, 21-7.
