KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei put aside their friendship with Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai for 50 minutes to claim an opening group win at the World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou today.
Playing the independent pair has always been tricky for world No. 10 Tang Jie-Ee Wei, and it was no different this time as they had to come from behind to win 14-21, 21-10, 21-14 in an all-Malaysia contest in Group B.
The head-to-head record between the Malaysian fierce rivals is now tied at 3-3 after the WTF showdown.
While off the court, they are good friends, the two pairs tried to kill each other on the court. Tang Jie said they need to be professional.
The husband and wife team of Soon Huat-Shevon started with gusto, but Tang Jie-Ee Wei turned the tide in the second game and never looked back.
The Paris Olympics quarter-finalists put Soon Huat under a lot of pressure and their change of tactics helped them to prevail.
Tang Jie-Ee Wi can book their semi-final ticket if they beat Indonesian world No. 13 Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in their second match tomorrow. Dejan-Gloria earned a hardfought 23-21, 16-21, 21-11 win over world No. 21 Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito of Japan.
"We are not the kind who smile or talk with our opponents before the match. We know who we are going to play and we need to be professional. After the match, we can be friends again," said Tang Jie.
"We played the right strategy to pressure our opponents and secure the win."
Ee Wei added: "I think we played the wrong tactic in the first game, but we managed to rectify it in the second game."
Shevon pointed out that Tang Jie-Ee Wei were piling more pressure on Soon Huat to break their rhythm. "By doing so, they also managed to put me off position and I think that plan worked well for them today.
"We have two group matches remaining, and they are both strong pairs. We have to prepare well and remain fit for those games."
Soon Huat, 34, and Shevon, 31, need to bounce back against Dejan-Gloria and Midorikawa-Saito to keep alive their semi-final hopes.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei didn't get past the group stage in their debut last year, but Soon Huat-Shevon were semi-finalists in 2020.