Badminton

Late starter Tang Jie takes the road to Paris

KUALA LUMPUR: It is a race against time to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but national mixed doubles shuttler Chen Tang Jie is up for the challenge.

In what may seem like a gamble, the BA of Malaysia recently paired Tang Jie, 24, with Toh Ee Wei in the hope of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics.

Tang Jie's former partner Peck Yen Wei, quit the national team last month, while Ee Wei's progress with her former partner Hoo Pang Ron has not been up to speed.

With not many options remaining in the national mixed doubles department, doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky took the bold step to switch the combinations.

Tang Jie said recently: "Honestly, it's a bit of a rush to try and qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, because Ee Wei and I don't have a ranking yet.

"But I welcome the challenge. It means we still have a chance and we need to fight for it. Nothing is impossible."

Tang Jie also noted that he has not looked beyond qualifying for the 2024 Paris Games just yet.

"I'm not getting younger, next year I will be 25 and 26 in 2024. If I don't qualify for the Olympics then, who knows what's next?

Meanwhile, Rexy explained that he has been testing out several scratch combinations in training and would like to see how they fare at the Malaysian International Challenge on Dec 13-18.

Among the big names who will be paired with different partners are men's doubles Goh Sze Fei who will partner Goh Boon Zhe, Nur Izzuddin Rumsani who will partner Haikal Nazri, and Man Wei Chong who will partner Fazriq Razif.

Most Popular
Related Article
Says Stories