Power play: Toh Ee Wei (left) and Chen Tang Jie react during a group match in Sudirman Cup. - Badminton Photo
PETALING JAYA: Having the right coach is the key for mixed doubles shuttler Toh Ee Wei to feature in her first World Championships in just six months.
Ee Wei had formed her partnership with Chen Tang Jie only last November but both are already ranked 22nd in the world and made the cut for the tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, in August together with independent shuttlers Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (No. 8) and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (16).
A country can have a maximum of three pairs if all of them are ranked in the top 24 bracket in the world.
Ee Wei believes the presence of Indonesian coach Nova Widianto at the right time in her path, has made the difference.
Since Nova started work in January, Ee Wei-Tang Jie have shown rapid progress and reached the quarter-finals in three higher-ranked tournaments this year - Opens in Malaysia, Germany and Switzerland.
The 22-year-old Ee Wei is delighted to make her maiden appearance in the world meet, and is grateful to her coach for his guidance.
“I’ve never competed in the world championships, only the world juniors. We are happy to make the cut although Tang Jie and I partnered quite late,” she said.
Ee Wei had played in the 2018 world junior meet with Pearly Tan and won a silver medal before they were split up at the senior stage.
“Tang Jie and I will be out to achieve good results, especially because the Olympic qualification period has started. Ultimately, we want to qualify for the Olympics next year,” she said.
“It’s also important that we have got our coach to help us. He has come in at the right time and we have improved a lot.
“He is one of the most experienced coaches. He not only did well as a player with Lilyana Natsir, but was also her coach later.’’
Lilyana won the world title with Nova at the 2005 and 2007 editions and under his guidance as a coach, she went on to win the world title with Tontowi Ahmad at the 2013 and 2017 editions. She also won the Olympics gold with Tontowi at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games after beating Goh Liu Ying-Chan Peng Soon in the final.
“We still have lots to learn though,” she said.
Ee Wei and Tang Jie are one of the four pairs currently in Suzhou, China, for the Sudirman Cup. The others are Hoo Pang Ron-Teoh Mei Xing, Soon Huat-Shevon and Kian Meng-Pei Jing.
So far, only Soon Huat-Shevon have played and delivered the points in the ties against Australia (5-0) and India (5-0).
As Malaysia have qualified for the quarter-finals, Ee Wei-Tang Jie may get a chance to play in the tie against Taiwan in the final Group C match today.
