THE Malaysian badminton squad created another major upset at the Paris Olympic Games 2024 when mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei beat world number two Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping of China this morning.
Their 17-21, 21-15, 21-16 win in 70 minutes at Porte de La Chapelle Arena made the Malaysians Group D champions and promised them an easier path in the quarter-finals.
After losing the first game, the world number nine Tang Jie-Ee Wei rocked the 8,000-strong crowd with a scintillating performance in the next two to clinch victory.
In the quarter-final knockout stage, Tang Jie-Ee Wei will meet one of the group runners-up, with the draw expected to be made tomorrow after all the doubles group matches have been completed.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei, the Switzerland Open and Thailand Masters runners-up this year, opened their campaign on Saturday by beating Singapore’s husband-and-wife pair Terry Hee-Jessica Tan 23-21, 21-12. They then booked their last-eight slot after defeating Vinson Chiu-Jennie Gai of the United States 21-15, 24-22.
Yesterday, women’s pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah shocked world number six and former two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara of Japan 18-21, 21-15, 21-16 in a Group A match to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
Commenting on the victory, Ee Wei said their courage to go all out and fight their more illustrious opponents proved decisive.
“As a defending champion, she (Dong Ping) played a very good game and pushed us hard. But the key to our victory was we trusted in each other and communicated well on the court. We knew what to do.
“They are a leading world pair with high-quality game. But today we did not become emotional when trailing as we did previously; we fought back,” she said.
Dong Ping won the Tokyo Olympics 2020 mixed doubles gold together with Wang Yi Lyu, who retired last year due to injuries.
Tang Jie said they would not get carried away by today’s win and would keep up the momentum in the quarter-finals.
“For today’s match, we tried to figure out how to overcome them. Our strategy worked and we walked away with a win. We will use the rest day tomorrow to recover and prepare for the quarter-finals,” he added.
