KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Wee Kiong rediscovered his old spark as the veteran, alongside Nur Azriyn Ayub, stunned Indonesia's Shohibul Fikri-Daniel Marthin to reach the men's doubles quarter-finals at the Macau Open today.
World No. 46 Wee Kiong-Azriyn, not given much of a chance against the Indonesian pair, pulled off a 21-18, 14-21, 21-11 victory in their 48-minute second-round clash.
Wee Kiong, who achieved his finest moment alongside former partner Goh V Shem when they won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has seen his form dip in recent months.
The 35-year-old ended his partnership with V Shem in 2021 and, after experimenting with different players, teamed up with Azriyn about a year ago.
Shohibul-Daniel have been in excellent form since partnering after the Paris Olympics, reaching the semi-finals in Japan, Korea, and China, and making the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Open.
Wee Kiong-Azriyn will now face Thailand's third seeds Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul, who overcame China's Sun Wen Jun-Zhu Yi Jun 21-18, 21-19, in tomorrow's quarter-final.
"We started well, but in the second game, I rushed and made many unforced errors," said Wee Kiong.
"Thankfully, we found our rhythm again and matched our opponents' pace. Our game plan worked well in the third game.
"We're just focusing on tomorrow's quarter-final without overthinking."
Meanwhile, men's singles player Justin Hoh couldn't keep up his momentum, bowing out in the second round with a 15-21, 21-16, 21-17 defeat to Indonesia's world junior champion Alwi Farhan in 68 minutes.
In the mixed doubles, world No. 29 Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin reached the quarter-finals after defeating Hong Kong's Lui Chun Wai-Fu Chi Yan 21-18, 21-10.
They will face Hong Kong's top seeds Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet tomorrow.
In another mixed doubles match, independent pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien breezed past India's Sumeeth Reddy-Sikki Reddy 21-17, 21-14 to secure their spot in the last eight, where they will meet China's Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui.