Taipei: Malaysia has successfully secured a place in the men’s doubles final at the 2023 Taipei Open.
In a thrilling quarter-final match that lasted 1 hour and 6 minutes, and also playing with a fever, Ong Yew Sin and his partner Teo Ee Yi emerged victorious by overcoming World No. 33 twins from Taiwan – Lee Fang-Chih/Lee Fang-Jen 15-21, 21-19, 21-17.
Highlights of Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi vs. Lee Fang-Chih/Lee Fang-Jen in the 2023 Taipei Open quarter-finals:
Ong went to the hospital for treatment of his fever before the match.
This is Ong/Teo’s third semi-finals this year, following their appearances at the Badminton Asia Championships and the Swiss Open. The question now remains whether they can secure a spot in the finals when they will face their compatriots, the World No. 23 Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun in the last four.
The defending champions – Man/Tee, on the other hand, outlasted the World No. 20 host duo of Lee Jhe-huei/Yang Po-hsuan 21-19, 21-19. Man/Tee beat the Olympic champions – Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin 21-18, 11-21, 21-18 to win the 2022 Taipei Open.
In mixed doubles, the World No. 19 Chen Tang Jie/Teh Ee Wei secured victory over the World No. 30 Yang Po-Hsuan/Hu Ling Fang 21-15, 21-14 in the quarter-finals. This would be Chen/Toh’s third World Tour semi-finals this year. Their triumph at the Orleans Masters stood as the only World Tour title won by any Malaysian players thus far in 2023.
In Saturday’s semi-finals, Chen/Toh will face Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia Hsin of Taiwan, who eliminated Hoo Pang Ron/Teoh Mei Xing from Malaysia.
The men’s singles competition saw Malaysia’s World No. 139 Yeoh Seng Zoe officially concluded his playing career after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2023 Taipei Open. Yeoh lost to local shuttler – World No. 42 Su Liyang 5-21, 17-21.
Yeoh had a remarkable breakthrough at the 2023 Taipei Open, defeating World No. 14 Kanta Tsuneyama in the second round. It was his first victory against a top-20 player in the world and his first entry into the top 8 at the World Tour level tournament.
During his career, Yeoh secured a total of four championships, all in international series tournaments. His most recent triumph was at the Austrian Open in 2022. Following retirement, he will serve as the coach for the Irish youth badminton team.
In the women’s singles category, Tai Tzu Ying, aiming for her fifth title at the Taipei Championship, will face Pornpicha Choeikeewong of Thailand in the semi-finals. The other match will feature Beiwen Zhang of the United States against Pitchamon Opatniputh – a talented 16-year-old player from Thailand.
