
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s hopes for badminton glory at the 2024 India Open suffered a huge blow, with Teo Ee Yi’s visa problem forcing the dynamic duo of Teo Ee Yi and Ong Yew Sin to withdraw from the tournament.
Taking to Instagram Stories, Teo Ee Yi owned up to the unfortunate mishap, revealing he’d inadvertently applied for an e-visa using an expired passport. The consequence? Denied entry and a swift “deportation” back to Malaysia, despite initially landed safely in India.
“Used an old passport for the e-visa, so I am not able to enter India. Trying to apply for an emergency visa, but if that fails, we have to withdraw from the India Open.”
His next Insta-story painted a bleaker picture: Ee Yi aboard a plane, homeward bound. “Big thanks to the Malaysian Embassy and everyone who offered support,” he wrote, a tinge of regret in his words. “They decided to send me home and now I am already on the flight. Sorry guys that was my mistake and last I have to withdraw from India Open.”
The news comes on the heels of their quarter-final exit at the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2024, where they fell to the Japanese pairing of Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi 15-21, 9-21. The setback at the India Open adds another layer of frustration to their recent run, a reminder that sometimes, badminton’s biggest rivals can reside outside the lines of the court.
For the record, at their appearance at the India Open last year, Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin managed to reach the quarter-finals before being defeated by their compatriots Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik 17-21, 11-21.