Kuala Lumpur: Due to the withdrawals of Taiwan’s Tokyo Olympic gold medalists – Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin and the World No. 23 Lu Ching-Yao/Yang Po-Han, Malaysia’s World No. 109 men’s pair – Tan Kian Meng/Tan Wee Kiong has been promoted to the top 32 main draw of 2022 All England.
Ruben Jille/Ties Van Der Lecq of Netherlands and the two Tans were originally placed as the first and second reserves. Both pairs will now fill the two spots vacated by the Taiwanese pairs.
“We didn’t expect too much when we submitted our names because we knew we didn’t rank very high. We are happy about the news and we don’t need to rest one week between the German Open and Swiss Open,” said Tan.
The Malaysian pair will start their competitions in Europe at the German Open which will be held in Muelheim, from March 8, 2022, to March 13, 2022. They will then travel to Birmingham to take part in the 2022 All England from March 16 to March 20, 2022, before competing at the Swiss Open from March 22 to March 27, 2022.
“We are hoping to do well in All England. That would give a strong boost to our ranking,” added Tan.
They will join four other Malaysian men’s pairs at the world’s oldest tournament, including the World No. 7 and 2019 All England runners-up Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, World No. 11 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi, World No. 17 Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and World No. 45 Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun.
In addition to taking part in the men’s doubles event, Tan Kian Meng and his mixed doubles partner – Lai Pei Jing would also play in all three tournaments in Europe.
