KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei were over the moon after snatching victory from the jaws of defeat today to reach the China Masters semi-finals.
The Malaysian duo appeared headed for certain defeat when trailing 11-20 in the second game, but they somehow pulled off a Houdini act to topple China's world No. 13 Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui 14-21, 23-21, 21-16 in a 65-minute thriller.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei had to save 10 match points to survive the second game to force the match into a decider and eventually for one of their most satisfying wins of their careers.
An elated Ee Wei said: "I think this is a special victory for us. We learnt a lot after turning it around from 20-11 because normally, we cannot survive such tests.
"This is something we need to do, something that we have to learn from the top pairs."
It has been a remarkable run for Tang Jie-Ee Wei after their first round loss to Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran in the Kumamoto Masters in Japan last week. World No. 100 Dechapol-Supissara, who only started partnering each other last month, went on to win the Kumamoto title.
"We discussed a lot about our performance following last week's defeat and I'm very happy that we have made the breakthrough here," added Ee Wei.
"Of course, it's not over yet but we are pleased with the way we have been playing so far."
Tang Jie felt that they played the right strategy, but it was hard to break the rhythm and confidence of Xin Wa-Fang Hui.
"We tried to find a solution in the beginning of the second game but they were confident and still managed to score points," said Tang Jie.
"We just kept telling ourselves to make it difficult for them to win points and never gave up."
It was Tang Jie-Ee Wei's second career win in as many matches against Xin Wa-Fang Hui.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will meet China's world No. 2 Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping — who defeated Taiwan's world No. 14 Yang Po Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang 21-13, 21-13 — in the last four.
The Malaysian duo trail Yan Zhe-Dong Ping 3-2 in their head-to-head record but are all fired up for the semi-final showdown after their storming comeback in the quarter-finals.