KUALA LUMPUR – Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei were not joking when they shared how much effort they put into studying their opponents before their Paris Olympics campaign.
The Malaysian mixed doubles duo secured a place in the quarter-finals today after a hard-fought 21-15, 24-22 win over the US pair Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai in the second Group D tie at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
Having already defeated Singapore’s Terry Hee and Jessica Tan a day earlier, Tang Jie and Ee Wei will face China’s world number two pair Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping in the final group fixture tomorrow to determine who tops the group.
Only the top two pairs from each of the groups, A to D, will advance to the knockout stage, where a fresh draw will be made.
Emotional about achieving a quarter-finals berth on their Olympics debut, Tang Jie and Ee Wei told the Badminton World Federation that they did a lot of homework on their American opponents, as they had never played against them before.
“People might say that our opponents are from America and that not many people play badminton there.
“However, we did a lot of homework and studied our opponents; they have been performing quite well in recent months.
“In the second game, they showed a lot of heart in their game, and their strategy put us under a lot of pressure,” said Tang Jie, who was only paired up with Ee Wei in late 2022.
Commenting further, Ee Wei said that both she and Tang Jie would go all out in their final group tie, as they have nothing to lose.
Earlier, in their second group match, Yanzhe and Dongping made quick work of Terry and Jessica, winning 21-13, 21-17.
On paper, Yanzhe and Dongping will start as favourites with a slim 2-1 head-to-head record over the Malaysians.
“We are getting better with each match, but we want to find our best performance in every match,” added Tang Jie. – July 28, 2024