Historic: Man Wei Chong (left) and Tee Kai Wun let out a huge cry after beating home pair Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in the final. – AP
PETALING JAYA: Doubles shuttler Tee Kai Wun dropped on his knees in sheer joy before getting up to hug his buddy Man Wei Chong.
It was a special and joyous moment for the duo as they showed no fear in pulling off a sensational 21-11, 21-19 victory over home favourites and world No. 4 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in an intimidating Istora Senayan to claim their first World Tour Super 500 title in the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta yesterday.
It was the pair’s first title since they won the Super 300 Taiwan Open in 2023.
The world No. 13 pair Wei Chong-Kai Wun earned a well deserved US$37,525 (RM164,284) in prize money for their brilliant efforts and are looking forward to celebrating Chinese New Year with their families in Melaka.
“This is the biggest breakthrough for us because we have never won a Super 500 title before this and we also lost to the Indonesians four times consecutively,” said the 25-year-old Wei Chong.
“This is a good prize money for us for Chinese New Year. We will go back home for two days (to celebrate).”
Despite a huge career breakthrough, Kai Wun-Wei Chong are staying grounded.
“We are very happy today (yesterday) but tomorrow (today) is a new day. We don’t want to think too much and we just want to focus on the next tournament instead,” said Wei Chong.
On the key to their win, the 24-year-old Kai Wun said: “We discussed what problems we had in our previous matches (against Fajar-Rian). We didn’t think about our mistakes before this but wanted to focus on executing our shots well on court this time. We focused on our service and receiving and we didn’t give up easily.”
Wei Chong-Kai Wun were in great form throughout the tournament and had won the title without dropping a single game.
They became the first Malaysian men’s doubles pair to win the crown since the tournament’s inception in 2010.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun impressively toppled teammates and 2022 world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the last four before beating Fajar-Rian for the first time after losing in their past four meetings.
The national No. 3 pair started strongly and stayed in control throughout to take the first game.
Fajar-Rian tried to fight back in the second game but the Malaysians remained calm in front of the passionate Indonesian fans to wrap up the win in straight games.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun certainly made up for their runners-up finish in the Indonesian Open in Istora last June.
They were also happy to receive their medals from former world No. 1 and four time winner Kevin Sanjaya.
The Indonesian, who retired last year, captured the title in 2016 with Wahyu Nayaka and in 2019, 2020, 2021 with Marcus Fernaldi.
“It’s a proud moment for us to receive this medal from Kevin Sanjaya. We have played with him before, so it feels great to get this from him,” said Wei Chong.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun are the second Malaysian men’s doubles pair to win a title this year after world No. 2 independent duo Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani claimed the Indian Open crown last week.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will next compete in the Asia Mixed Team Championships from Feb 11-16 in Qingdao, China.
RESULTS
Men’s singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Jonatan Christie (Ina) 18-21, 21-17, 21-18.
Men’s doubles: Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) bt Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (Ina) 21-11, 21-19.
Women’s singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Sim Yu-jin (Kor) 21-18, 21-17.
Women’s doubles: Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) 21-12, 17-21, 21-18.
Mixed doubles: Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 21-15, 21-17.
