KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 9 Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei said they never stopped believing in themselves after upstaging Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai at the All England to check into the second round yesterday.
With four straight defeats over the last five months, Tang Jie-Ee Wei defied the odds to clinch a 21-14, 12-21, 21-15 win over the 2021 world champions in 57 minutes at Arena Birmingham
The revenge was especially sweet after Tang Jie-Ee Wei were outplayed by world No. 6 Dechapol-Sapsiree in the final of the Thailand Masters last month.
"We have lost to them so many times that we never give so much thought about the outcome today," said Ee Wei.
"The Thais have been enjoying a good run of results in recent tournaments, they even defeated world No. 1 Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong (en route to the French Open semi-finals last week).
"But Tang Jie and I both kept motivating each other throughout the match, stayed confident and believed in ourselves."
Tang Jie echoed Ee Wei's sentiment, saying that having plenty of faith in their partnership has made a difference for them in the match.
"We believe in each other, that's the key to our win," said Tang Jie.
"But this is just the round one, we're not going to feel content yet. It's not as if we've become champions.
"We need to keep this momentum going and focus on our next match."
The landmark win brought much relief to Tang Jie-Ee Wei, who have been struggling to impress of late.
The path to the semi-finals now also looks clear as they are certainly more than capable of beating their next opponents, Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek of the Netherlands.
If they advance, Tang Jie-Ee Wei could go up against either Thai pair Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran or Taiwan's Ye Hong Wei-Lee Chia Hsin.
Hong Wei-Chia Hsin created a big upset when they stunned South Korea's world champions Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung with an emphatic 21-17, 21-10 win.
In other matches involving Malaysians, Goh Jin Wei and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun failed to clear their respective women's singles and men's doubles openers.
Jin Wei lost 21-15, 22-20 to China's He Bing Jiao while Wei Chong-Kai Wun went down fighting 23-21, 21-18 to Japan's Akira Koga-Taichi Saito.