Tang Jie-Ee Wei revitalised after reunion
KUALA LUMPUR: To the Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei watchers, their performance against Japan in the Sudirman Cup in Xiamen today was a good sign.
Their body language was okay, so was their verbal communication.
The mixed doubles pair rose to the occasion with a rousing performance that signalled that the "rift" between them has been put to rest following their clinical victory over Japanese pair Hiroki Midorikawa-Arisa Igarashi.
The world No. 4 had decided to go separate ways last month due to "irreconcilable" differences, but reconciled two weeks later.
And the reunited pair are now in Xiamen in a bid to relaunch their careers.
The short break after the breakup seemed to have done wonders to Tang Jie-Ee Wei who showed solid partnership in beating Midorikawa-Igarashi (formerly known as Arisa Higashino) 21-19, 21-18 in 39 minutes to give Malaysia a rousing start in the Group C match.
Tang Jie said: "We are really excited to represent Malaysia and help our teammates to get a good start.
"Arisa is one of the best mixed doubles players (in the world) and physically very strong. So, we did video analysis and tried to adjust to their gameplay."
Arisa was a three-time All England winner (2018, 2021, 2023) with Yuta Watanabe who retired after their bronze effort at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Japan seemed to have decided against fielding their current No. 1 Midorikawa-Natsu Saito in today's tie, as they do not have a favourable head-to-head record against Tang Jie-Ee Wei (4-2). However, Tang Jie-Ee Wei still outplayed Hiroki-Arisa.
"I always like to play in team events like this as I feel motivated by the cheering from our teammates.
"We had to be confident on the court as we faced a strong challenge from the Japanese pair and we fought point for point."
Although Malaysia were eventually edged 3-2 by Japan, the plus point is that Tang Jie-Ee Wei looked to have regained their mojo and the spark in their partnership.
This should give Malaysia a boost against any strong rivals in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
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