Badminton

Tang Jie-Ee Wei hunt for ranking points in Iran

KUALA LUMPUR: For fast rising mixed doubles duo Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, time is their biggest enemy.

But instead of complaining, the national duo are ready to grab every opportunity in the hopes of improving their world ranking before the start of the one-year Olympic qualifiers in May.

After gaining valuable experience from the Super 1000 Malaysia Open and the Super 750 India Open earlier this month, the newly paired combination are hoping to come good at the Iran International Challenge in Tehran this week.

Knowing well that a good showing will set the tone for their debuts at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships (BAMTC) in Dubai next month, Tang Jie-Ee Wei are determined to make every match count.

"We don't have much time, because after this tournament, we only have about a week to prepare for the BAMTC.

"It's going to be our first senior team event so Tang Jie and I are really looking forward to it.

"Right now Tang Jie and I need to collect as many points to improve our rankings. As such, targets are not as important as giving our best I'm every single match to achieve this," Ee Wei told Timesport when contacted.

After being paired up by the BA of Malaysia (BAM) late last year, Tang Jie-Ee Wei went on to win the Bangladesh IC and finished second at the Malaysia IC, both in December.

They then exceeded expectations by reaching the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open, before producing a commendable performance at the India Open a week later.

Tang Jie-Ee Wei reached the second round in New Delhi before losing to world No 3 Wang Yi Lyu-Huang Dong Ping of China.

The Malaysians, who are expected to move one rung up to No 56 in the world today, will open their Iran IC campaign in the quarter-finals against Brazil's Davi Silva-Sania Lima, after receiving a first round bye.

Having already played with some of the world's best, Tang Jie-Ee Wei know they have much to do in a short period of time.

"We're very clear on what we need to improve, our consistency and our quality on court.

"The top pairs, they hardly make any mistake and are very steady, this is what we've observed.

"This is what we need to work on when we go back to training. Reduce on our mistakes, so the pressure is not on us," added Ee Wei, who also thanked the coaches and BAM top management for giving her and Tang Jie the opportunity to play at the BAMTC next month.

The other Malaysian mixed doubles in Iran are Hoo Pang Ron-Teoh Mei Xing, Yap Roy King-Valeree Siow, Jimmy Wong-Teoh Le Xuan, and Low Han Chen-Chong Jie Yu.

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