KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — National top mixed doubles pair, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, reignited their chance to qualify for the last four after they staged a remarkable comeback by creating an upset over world number two pair from Japan, Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino, in the second Group A fixture of the World Tour Finals (WTF) 2023 in Hangzhou, China, today.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei put up a gallant fight to stun Watanabe-Higashino, 12-21, 21-16, 21-16 in a 61-minute thriller during the season-ending tournament held in Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.
Today’s triumph marked the first win for current world number eight duo against Watanabe-Higashino after three meetings since they first met in Singapore Open 2023 semi-finals in June.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will earn their semi-finals ticket of their maiden WTF should they overcome world number six pair, Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand in the final Group A tie tomorrow.
Based on the head-to-head record, the Thai hold a slight edge over the Malaysians with two wins out of three encounters so far.
Their initial encounter in the Malaysia Open 2023 quarter-final in January resulted in a 21-19, 21-9 win in the favour of Dechapol-Sapsiree.
Yesterday, Tang Jie-Ee Wei got off their WTF 2023 campaign on the wrong foot, losing in straight sets to home pair, Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping, 21-10, 21-13.
Only the top two pairs from each group advance to the semi-finals. — Bernama