KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — National young mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Valeree Siow showed an outstanding performance to pull off an upset over world number 16 Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo of Japan in the first round of the Malaysia Open today.
The huge gap in terms of experience and rankings did not stop the world 209th ranked pair from showcasing solid action to send former world and Olympic champion Matsutomo and her partner packing.
Tang Jie, 24, and Valeree, 22, who were newly paired at the end of last month, put in the commendable performance to advance to the second round with a 21-16, 14-21, 21-10 victory after a 54-minute match with solid support from the 5,000-odd home crowd at the Axiata Arena here.
However, a tougher challenge awaits them tomorrow when they face world number one and two-time world champions Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong from China.
“Today’s win certainly helps (for tomorrow), but they are also Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medallists, so I think we have to be strong for their challenge. We are looking forward to challenging them, I hope we will put on a good show tomorrow.
“Winning a match does not mean we are already good, there are still many things to learn. Valeree is still young, we need more time (to be able to challenge the best players in the world),” Tang Jie told reporters.
Valeree, who will also be facing the challenge of another world number one doubles pair from China, Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan with partner Low Yeen Yuan in the second round of the women’s doubles tomorrow, said she did not consider playing in two events as tiring.
She also promised to do her best tomorrow and did not rule out the possibility of continuing to create surprises on home ground.
Meanwhile, it was a different fate for two other national mixed doubles pairs, who were eliminated in the first round by the same margins, 17-21, 18-21.
The young pair of Hoo Pang Ron-Toh Ee Wei lost to Si Wei-Ya Qiong , who are the second seeds in the tournament, while Rio 2016 Olympics silver medallist Goh Liu Ying and partner Soong Joo Ven fell to Jones Ralfy Jansen-Linda Efler of Germany.
“We played well but need to polish up our chemistry because sometimes our racquets clashed going for the same shot, we need to train more. If we play in more tournaments, our confidence will increase and get more experience, so our game will be smoother,”
“It was an honour to play against the world number one. We could have done better and we hope can win against them one day,” said Pang Ron. — Bernama
