PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles world champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei not only missed out on their first medal at the Asian Championships, but suffered a disappointing defeat to much lower-ranked opponents.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei entered the quarter-finals at the Ningbo Olympic Centre as the world No. 4 pair, up against South Korea’s Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong, who are ranked No. 147 in the world.
To make matters worse, their opponents had come through the qualifying rounds.
The Malaysians were expected to progress to the semi-finals, which would have guaranteed them at least a bronze medal.
However, things did not go as expected as Tang Jie-Ee Wei struggled to find their rhythm and fell 19-21, 17-21.
Tang Jie admitted he was below par, which prevented the pair from playing their usual game.
“As I said earlier, my performance today was poor. On shots where I should have been aggressive, I played it safe. On the safer shots, I took unnecessary risks. That disrupted our rotation,” said Tang Jie in an interview with Badminton Asia.
Meanwhile, Ee Wei dismissed suggestions that the defeat was linked to the abdominal injury she had been carrying prior to arriving in Ningbo.
“Once I step onto the court, I don’t think too much. I just focus on the match,” she said.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will now return to Malaysia to regroup and sharpen their form ahead of their title defence at the World Champion–ships in New Delhi in August.
They will not be involved in the Thomas Cup or Uber Cup, with their next assignment being the Malaysian Masters from May 19-24.
Quarter-finals
Men’s singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Loh Kean Yew (Sin) 16-21, 21-12, 21-17; Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-18, 21-18; Ayush Shetty (Ind) bt Jonatan Christie (Ina) 23-21, 21-17; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Weng Hongyang (Chn) 20-22, 21-9, 21-9.
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-16, 21-10; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Gao Fangjie (Chn) 21-23, 21-11, 21-13; Sim Yu-jin (Kor) bt Nozomo Okuhara (Jpn) 21-18, 21-1; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Riko Gunji (Jpn) 21-13, 21-15.
Women’s doubles: Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Rachel Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) 21-11, 21-16.
Mixed doubles: Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong (Kor) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) 21-19, 21-17; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 19-21, 21-17, 21-15; Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) bt Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang (Tpe) 26-24, 21-16; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Chen Cheng-kuan-Hsu Yin-hui (Tpe) 21-10, 21-18.
