Keep that up: Toh Ee Wei and Chen Tang Jie react after winning a point against Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Pasaribu. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: World mixed doubles champions Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei know they cannot afford to continue making simple mistakes if they hope to lift the World Tour Finals title this year.
Despite the absence of retired pair Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong, who dashed their hopes in last year’s final, China remain a dominant force with two pairs advancing to the semi-finals in Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin, and Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping.
In fact, when battling for top spot in Group B yesterday, Tang Jie and Ee Wei had to settle for a 18-21, 24-26 defeat to Yanzhe-Dongping.
As runners-up, Tang Jie-Ee Wei could meet the world No. 1 pair again when the semi-final draw is made, or take on Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin.
To beat either Chinese pair, they know they will need to play with more confidence on court.
“I made a lot of unnecessary mistakes, especially on the return of serve and the last shot. Since we were on the winning side, I think I should have been more firm and straightforward instead of trying to control the power,” said Tang Jie reflecting on their loss to Yanzhe-Dongping.
However, Tang Jie-Ee Wei admitted that despite lacking confidence at times, their fighting spirit remained strong, as shown by their efforts to close the gap after falling behind.
“Of course, whenever we compete, we always want to win and that was our mindset today. It showed our toughness on court.
‘‘Even though we had already qualified and were leading by a big margin at one point, we still tried to show that fighting spirit. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win today (yesterday),” he added.
Another Malaysian pair in Group B, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, had a bitter end to their campaign in Hangzhou, suffering their third consecutive defeat in the group stage.
Soon Huat-Shevon, who were last year’s semi-finalists, went down to Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Pasaribu 17-21, 17-21 in their final Group A match yesterday. The loss left them at the bottom of the standings without a single point.
