Suzhou: Although Malaysia played Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai in the mixed doubles match of the first two group stage actions against Australia and India. However, in the last Group C battle against Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, Malaysia decided to send Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei to the mixed doubles match, and the World No. 22 didn’t disappoint as they overcame their nervousness, coming back from the first set defeat to beat World No. 23 Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia Hsin 17-21, 21-19, 21-17 thus contributing the first point for Malaysia.
Highlights of Malaysia vs. Chinese Taipei at the 2023 Sudirman Cup:
Both Chen and Toh admitted to feeling nervous before entering the court considering that it was their first appearance at the 2023 Sudirman Cup.
“It’s nerve-wracking but at the same time there’s a sense of excitement for being able to represent Malaysia in the Sudirman Cup for the first time as a team,” said Chen.
“During the second set, the opponent was leading but I believed in my partner and myself. The coach and teammates who were cheering for us also gave us strong support,” added Chen.
“The coach provided us with the correct and easy to understand strategy so that we can win and score Malaysia’s first point,” explained Chen.
Malaysia’s World No. 8 Lee Zii Jia who met World No. 5 Chou Tien Chen in the men’s singles match, put Malaysia comfortably ahead 2-0 when he exacted revenge for his last two losses to Chou by outlasting the Taiwanese 21-14, 23-21 on Wednesday.
In the women’s singles match that took place next, former two-time world junior champion, Goh Jin Wei, who created a surprise by defeating the 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medalist from India, PV Sindhu yesterday, failed to maintain the momentum when she lost to the World No. 3 player, Tai Tzu Ying 8-21. 10-21 to allow Taiwan to close the gap in the match.
Fortunately, the World No. 8 men’s doubles pair, Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin gave Malaysia the victory when they defeated Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po Han 21-8, 23-21 before the women’s doubles, Pearly Tan/Muralitharan Thinaah contributed the fourth point through their victory over Hsu Yang Ching/Teng Chun Hsun 21-15, 19-21, 21-15.
The victory over Taiwan saw Malaysia emerge as the champion of Group C after winning 5-0 over both Australia and India in the first two ties and thus will have a chance to get a favorable quarter-final draw.
For the record, Malaysia’s best achievement in the Sudirman Cup competition was reaching the semi-finals in the 2009 edition in Guangzhou, China, and 2021 in Vantaa, Finland.
