Seoul: A gift in celebration of Malaysia’s Independence Day.
That’s how Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair, Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei, described their victory at the Korea Open in Seoul, marking their first title in the 2024 BWF World Tour.
Highlights of Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei vs. Guo Xin Wa/Li Qian in the 2024 Korea Open final:
Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei clinched the title after defeating China’s Guo Xin Wa/Li Qian 17-21, 21-13, 21-13 in 59 minutes during the final at the Mokpo Indoor Stadium today.
“We did a good job today after losing the first set,” said Toh. “However, we did not give up; the coach and my partner always gave me confidence.”
“This title is also for Malaysia, a gift for Independence Day.”
The final of this Super 500 tournament was the third final of the year for the world No. 9 pair, after finishing as runners-up at the Swiss Open in March and the Thailand Masters in February, both Super 300 events.
With this victory, Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei took home USD 33,180 (approximately MYR 143,000), while Guo Xin Wa/Li Qian earned USD 15,960 (MYR 68,000).
Chen Tang Jie also mentioned that he and Toh Ee Wei would continue to work on their weaknesses to pursue more titles in the future.
“I think we still have much to improve, especially in the first set, where I made many simple mistakes. Even though we won today, there are still many areas to work on,” said Chen.
Chen also shared a heartfelt message on his Instagram account to express his gratitude to everyone who has supported him:
View this post on Instagram
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s World No. 9 women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan, remained optimistic after their defeat in the final of the 2024 Korea Open and are determined to bounce back in the upcoming Hong Kong Open, starting September 10.
Tan/Muralitharan were defeated by the host pair, Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong, 21-12, 21-11 in 44 minutes.
“Our Korean opponents were very well-prepared to face us, and we accept this defeat. We commend the Korean pair and don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves,” said Muralitharan, adding that they weren’t overly affected by the strong support for Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong from the home crowd.
“I don’t think it bothered us because we focused on our game. We didn’t hear much, but the supporters were quite extraordinary today, and some were cheering for us too.”
“Our next tournament is likely to be the Hong Kong Open soon. We don’t have much rest time, so we hope to get enough rest to be ready for the Hong Kong Open.”
The defeat marked the third time Tan/Muralitharan lost to Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong in four encounters. The last victory for Pearly-Thinaah against Jeong/Kim was in the semifinals of the 2023 Malaysia Masters.
In the women’s singles final, China’s Wang Zhiyi withdrew, allowing South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun to win the title.
In men’s singles, Lu Guangzu of China overcame a determined challenge from Lee Chia Hao of Taiwan, maintaining his composure to defeat Lee 21-16, 20-22, 21-18, and claim his first-ever BWF World Tour Super 500 title.
The men’s doubles final saw reigning World Champions Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae of Korea take the first game 21-18, but they lost focus in the second and third games, ultimately falling to Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana 9-21, 8-21.
