PETALING JAYA: It was a less than favourable result for mixed doubles duo Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei at the China Open after crashing out in the second round yesterday.
Tang Jie however, was quick to take the fall for the pair.
The world No. 9 Malaysians went down 15-21, 21-13, 9-21 to No. 16 Indonesians Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Widjaja in the Super 1000 tournament at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Changzhou.
Tang Jie admitted that he was on the back foot throughout the game against the Indonesians.
“Our opponents did well, but on our part, I didn’t do well from the first point until the last,” said Tang Jie.
“I want to say sorry to my partner because she did her very best, but I could not provide good court coverage for her,” said Tang Jie.
Despite the windy conditions on the court, Ee Wei said it was not an excuse, as both pairs were faced with the same conditions.
“Both pairs had to deal with the same drift on court. We wanted to get adjusted to the conditions and control the game, but we did not do that,” she said.
The Malaysian pair, who made it to the Hong Kong Open semi-finals last week before losing to Chinese pair Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping, said they need to take a breather from a busy schedule.
“Physically we did our best. No matter how tired we were, we fought hard, fatigue is not an excuse.
“But right now, we could surely use some rest,” said Tang Jie.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin defeated compatriots Yap Roy King-Valeree Siow 21-9, 21-15 in the second round, and have set up a quarter-finals match-up against Dejan-Gloria today.
Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jamie also advanced to the last eight after pulling off a 21-16, 21-12 win against Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran to set up meeting with China’s Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin.
