PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles pair Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin are keeping their feet firmly on the ground as they continue to punch above their weight at the Japan Open.
The pair, who have only been playing together for about three months, have enjoyed an impressive run in Tokyo, with their latest scalp coming against world No. 3 Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje in the quarter-finals yesterday.
Jimmy-Su Yin were in control throughout as they defeated the Danish pair 21-17, 21-17 in just 39 minutes at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
They will take on Hong Kong’s world No. 8 pair Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet in today’s semi-finals.
Jimmy insisted that beating several top-ranked opponents does not mean they have reached the level of the world’s best.
“Obviously, we’re still far behind the top ranked pairs.
“They are more experienced, and we are considered ‘juniors’ as a pair,” said Jimmy to BWF.
At the same time, he also felt that their patience was the key to victory against the Danish pair.
“They (Christiansen-Boje) are much more experienced than us and tactically a better pair, but we won because we stayed patient.
“We didn’t try to challenge them recklessly or play their game. We stuck to our plan and waited for the right moments.
“When we played them previously, we tried to match them tactically and rushed too much. We couldn’t really challenge them.
“This time, we changed our approach. Instead of forcing things, we told ourselves to stay patient, believe in our game and wait for our opportunities,” he added.
Earlier in the tournament, Jimmy-Su Yin also knocked out world No. 14 Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara of Japan and world No. 7 Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France.
They had also stunned world No. 1 Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping at the Singapore Open in May.
Meanwhile, joining Jimmy-Su Yin in the semi-finals are last year’s men’s doubles finalists Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.
The Malaysians booked their place in the last four after defeating American pair Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith 21-19, 15-21, 21-15 in the quarter-finals.
Standing in Sze Fei-Izzuddin’s way are defending champions Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae of South Korea, who beat Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing 21-13, 21-10 in the last eight.
