Taipei: Malaysia’s World No. 36 men’s pair – Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun earned a chance to play against the Tokyo Olympic gold medalists – Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan on Sunday as both pairs set up a mouthwatering showdown in the 2022 Taipei Open final.
Man/Tee outlasted local pair Su Ching Heng/Ye Hong Wei 21-13, 22-20 in the semi-finals that lasted 36 minutes on Saturday.
“I am quite satisfied, we were able to play what we learned in training. After coming back from an injury, we didn’t do well at the first two tournaments. Fortunately, we are playing better in this tournament and slowly regaining our confidence,” said Man who sustained a knee injury during the Hanoi 2021 Southeast Asian Games men’s team event.
“The most important thing is our mental strength. Even after the injury, we must believe that we can recover and get back to our best condition as soon as possible,” added Man.
As for Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin, they eliminated another Malaysian pair – Boon Xin Yuan/Wong Tien Ci 21-10, 21-14 in the other semi-final.
In men’s singles, the World No. 59 Soong Joo Ven of Malaysia couldn’t move deeper into the tournament when he lost to World No. 4 Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan 12-21, 12-21.
Chou will meet last week’s Singapore Open runner-up and World No. 38 Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the final.
Malaysia’s World No. 24 mixed pair – Hoo Pang Ron/Cheah Yee See put up a strong fight in the semi-finals against World No. 71 Reginald Lee Chun Hei/Ng Tsz Yau of Hong Kong, unfortunately, Hoo/Pang were defeated by Lee/Ng 17-21, 21-17, 12-21.
Lee/Ng will play World No. 158 Ruttanapak Oupthong/Chasinee Korepap of Thailand in the final.
The women’s singles home favorite and World No. 2 Tai Tzu Ying is set to take on World No. 35 Saena Kawakami of Japan in the final while Rui Hirokami/Yuna Kato of Japan will battle Ng Tsz Yau/Tsang Hiu Yan of Hong Kong in the women’s doubles final.
