PETALING JAYA: Following a testing few months plagued by injury struggles and partner reshuffles, national men’s doubles shuttler Man Wei Chong can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The 27-year-old, who aggravated a right knee injury in March, had been struggling to find his form.
The challenge was compounded when he was temporarily split from his regular partner, Tee Kai Wun, to trial other pairings.
Recently reunited, the duo captured their first Super 750 title at the French Open final on Sunday.
The world No. 11 pairing entered the all-Malaysian final as underdogs against world No. 5 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani but came back from a game down to win 13-21, 21-15, 21-17 at the Arena Grand Paris.
The win marks their sixth career title together and their first since the 2025 Malaysian Masters.
Despite the triumph, Wei Chong remained grounded about their current expectations.
“There wasn’t actually a target for the past few tournaments,” said Wei Chong.
“We were the underdogs, but we really wanted to perform well and bring home the title.
“Maybe when we are under pressure, we can play better.”
He added that his knee is now “almost fully recovered”.
The victory is a significant turnaround for the pair, who suffered a first round exit at the Denmark Open just a week earlier.
Their success also ends Malaysia’s 22-year wait for a French Open men’s doubles crown.
The last Malaysians to achieve the feat were Gan Teik Chai-Koo Kien Keat in 2004.
Furthermore, the match marked the first all-Malaysian final in a Super 750 tournament.
“We are glad to be part of history as Malaysians,” said Kai Wun.
“Hopefully, we can have more all-Malaysian finals in the future.”
Following their triumph in Paris, Kai Wun hopes the duo can maintain their consistency moving forward.
“Our consistency is not so good. We just focused match by match, and I told my partner to give our best until the end,” said Kai Wun.
“Now that we are back together and have won a title, we hope to maintain this momentum.”
After a gruelling two-week schedule on tour, the pair are now looking forward to spending time with family back home and enjoying the local cuisine.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Christo Popov (Fra) bt Moh Zaki Ubaidillah (Ina) 21-11, 14-21, 21-13.
Men’s doubles: Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Mas) 13-21, 21-15, 21-7.
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt P. V. Sindhu (Ind)16-21, 21-11, 21-1.
Women’s doubles: Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) 10-21, 21-17, 21-16.
Mixed doubles: Feng Yangzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) 21-10, 21-13.
