Paris 2024 Olympics - Badminton - Mixed Doubles Group play stage - Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France - July 29, 2024. Tang Jie Chen of Malaysia and Ee Wei Toh of Malaysia react during the Group D match against Yan Zhe Feng of China and Dong Ping Huang of China. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
MALAYSIA’S mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei Tang Jie-Ee Wei are set to steal the headlines again by going further in the Paris Olympic Games.
The duo have a good chance of beating South Korea’s world No. 8 Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun in the quarter-finals, a day after defying the odds to topple China’s world No. 2 Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping to emerge as group winners on Monday.
Based on head-to-head records, the Malaysians have a slight advantage over the Koreans after beating the latter in two of their past three meetings last year.
They won at the China Open and Asian Championships but lost at the German Open.
A win over the Koreans will see Tang Jie-Ee Wei take on either another Korean pair, reigning world champions Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung or Hong Kong Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet in the last four.
The Malaysians have beaten both the pairs earlier, too.
Former shuttler Goh Liu Ying, who won the silver medal with Chan Peng Soon in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, believes Tang Jie-Ee Wei can pull off a surprise in Paris.
Liu Ying, is impressed with the hunger and fire shown by world No. 9 Tang Jie-Ee Wei in their matches so far and wants them to continue their superb showing.
“They have been doing very well, especially in the match against the Chinese,” said Liu Ying.
“I’m very happy with their fire and desire to win. In terms of tactics, I can see that they have prepared very well. It’s all about the mindset. They might give us a surprise.”
Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik face a nervous wait to see who they will face in the quarter-finals after finishing in second place in Group A.
The world No. 4 pair went down fighting 22-24, 14-21 to China’s world No. 1 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang in their last group match at Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle on Monday.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who won bronze in the 2021 Tokyo edition, will now face a winner from one of the other groups after a fresh draw.
