The challenge for doubles shuttler Tan Wee Kiong has come to an end at the Macau Open, yet he remains upbeat. The 35-year-old Wee Kiong, alongside partner Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub, faced defeat in the semi-finals against the Indonesian pair Sabar Karyaman and Moh Reza Pahlevi, with scores of 12-21, 19-21.
Malaysia men double players, Tan Wee Kiong and Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub in action during against the Chinese Taipei players, Chen Cheng Kuan and Chen Sheng Fa at the semi final Bergamot KL Masters Malaysia Super 100 2023 at Stadium Titiwangsa on November 04.—AZMAN GHANI/The Star
“It’s our first semis in the World Tour 300 tournament,” stated Wee Kiong. He previously earned a silver medal with Goh V Shem at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and has been competing with Azriyn since their pairing at the Taiwan Open in June last year.
Additionally, the mixed doubles duo Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin also exited the tournament, losing a hard-fought match 15-21, 21-17, 14-21 to Dejan Ferdinansyah and Gloria Emanuelle from Indonesia.
Unseeded duo Huang Di and Zhou Hao Dong, playing in only their second tournament together, delivered the most surprising result on Day 1 of the LI-NING Hong Kong Open 2024.
After making it through the qualifiers, the Chinese pair—who were eliminated in the first round of their debut at the Korea Open two weeks ago—shocked top-seeded men’s doubles champions Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen with their fast and aggressive style, winning 21-15, 25-23.
The second game was particularly tense, with both sides exchanging slim leads from 18-all, but Huang and Zhou stayed composed to secure the victory.
Zhou, who had previously partnered with He Ji Ting for two years before teaming up with Tan Qiang at the end of last year, credited their speed as the decisive factor in defeating the world No. 2 pair.
“Our speed gave us the edge,” said Zhou, 26, from Ningbo. “Playing fast is our strength, and we showcased it today.
“Kim and Anders, being top players, had more pressure to deliver a result. For us, the goal was to stay aggressive and push ourselves to beat the best.
“We’re thrilled with this win, but our focus now shifts to preparing for the next round.”
Huang and Zhou will next face Lin Bing Wei and Su Ching Heng from Chinese Taipei.
Elsewhere, Danish men’s doubles teams faced more disappointment. Shortly after, Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard fell 21-14, 21-17 to Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Daniel Marthin.
Denmark’s hopes in men’s doubles ended later in the day, when sixth seeds Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard lost a tight match, 15-21, 23-21, 19-21, to Nur Mohd Azryn and Tan Wee Kiong.
In 2013, no national team, except South Korea, had won all five event titles. This year, host team Chinese Taipei is the only team to have seeds in all five events.
Chinese Taipei has had winners in the past six editions of the tournament, marking the longest winning streak since Indonesia’s 11 consecutive wins from 1990 to 2002. There were no tournaments held in 1998 and 2001.
Local star Tai Tzu-ying has won five of the last ten women’s singles titles. Defending her title would make the world No. 3 player the most successful competitor in the history of the tournament. She would also become the first player since Denmark’s women’s singles player Kirsten Larsen in 1988 to win three consecutive championships.
Both Tai Tzu-ying and fellow home favorite Chou Tien-chen, who have won titles previously, are the top-seeded players in this year’s tournament.
Since Tai Tzu-ying won her first gold medal in 2012, only South Korea has produced multiple champions in the event.
Along with the pair of Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong (2019), Wang Chi-lin (2017 and 2018 with Chen Hung-ling) and Tseng Hsiao-yang, six former champions are participating in this year’s tournament. However, their partners have changed: Wu Tso-tung, Chen Chien-jen, and Tseng Chun-hua have different partners, while Wang Chi-lin competes in his final match alongside his two-time Olympic gold-medalist partner Lee Yang.
Women’s doubles has been the only event won by different countries in the last four editions: Japan (2018), Thailand (2019), Hong Kong (2022), and South Korea (2023).
Key Data: Chinese Taipei has yet to win a mixed doubles event directly, though this year they have four seeded pairs in the mixed doubles draw, including top seeds Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin.
Tan Wee Kiong (May 21, 1989), real name Tan Wee Kiong, also known as Tan Wee 𣚦, was changed to his current name in late 2015 for transit. A Malaysian male badminton player, he grew up in Khun Lan U Ru New Village, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Johor, and moved his family to Tawau in 2001, joining the Malaysian badminton team at the age of 13. He won a silver medal in men’s doubles badminton in the 2016 Olympics, partnering with Goh Wee Seng.
In 2007, Tan Wee Keong teamed up with Wen Kewei to compete in the Asian Junior Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles and eventually won the championship.
In November 2009, Chen Weiqiang and Wen Kewei played in the Malaysia Badminton International Challenge, defeating teammates Mak Hee Chun/Huang Huiling 2-1 (21-6, 13-21, 21-17) to win their first international title.
In August 2013, Chan Wai Keung participated in the World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou, China, playing in the Men’s Doubles event with Yun Tianhao as the 11th seed. They missed the first round of the tournament, then defeated teammates Lin Qinhua/Wu Weishen 2-0 in the second round; however, they were defeated by No. 6 seeds Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng of China 0-2 (19-21, 13-21) in the third round, stopping in the round of 16. In November of the same year, he and Yun Tianhao competed in the Macau Badminton Golden Grand Prix, winning the men’s doubles final by defeating the tournament’s top seeds, Lee Shengmu/Cai Jiaxin of Chinese Taipei, 2-0 (21-16, 21-19).
In 2014, Tan Wee Keong competed in the Thomas Cup Men’s Team event, switching to partnering with Goh Wee Shen, and helped Malaysia win the Thomas Cup Men’s Team Runner-up title without losing a single match. In August of the same year, he represented Malaysia at the Commonwealth Games badminton tournament in Glasgow, Scotland, where Malaysia won the gold medal in the team event that was played first; and the men’s doubles final with partner Goh Wee Shen defeated the tournament’s No. 3 seed, Danny Bawa Krishnanta/Chat Chia Ja Gat of Singapore, 2-1 (21-12, 12-21, 21-15), and was also the current Commonwealth double winners.
In 2015, the pair suffered a decline in form and were often eliminated in the first two rounds of the tournament, so they changed their names together at the end of 2015, with Goh Wei-Shen changing his name to “Goh Wei-Sheng” and Chen Wei-Shen changing his name to “Chen Wei-Qiang”. ”, after the name change, in December of the same year, the two played in the U.S. Badminton Grand Prix in the men’s doubles final to beat the tournament’s top seed, the Russian powerhouse of the Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov, 2-0 (21-14, 21-17), a move to win the title. Because of the change of name, both of them have the character “蔚” in their names, and have since been called the “Double-U蔚组合” by the Malaysian media and the public.
In August 2016, Malaysia’s world No. 12 ranked duo qualified for the men’s doubles badminton event at the Summer Olympics and advanced to the last eight with a clean sweep in the group stage. In the last eight, the pair met the tournament’s top seeds, Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong of South Korea, and fought hard to win a close 3-set match 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 21-19) and advance to the quarterfinals as dark horses[12]. In the semi-finals, the duo defeated Chinese pair Chai Biao/Hong Wei 2-1 (21-18, 12-21, 21-17). In the final, Goh Wee Seng/Chen Wee Keong once again met their group stage opponents, Fu Haifeng, one of China’s previous Olympic doubles gold medalists, and his new partner Zhang Nan, eventually losing 1-2 (21-16, 11-21, 21-23), and missing out on Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal.
The pair peaked after winning the silver medal at the Rio Olympics, first appearing in Denmark’s premier badminton super tournament in October, where they defeated Thailand’s Bodin Ishara/Nidipong Pampupek 2-1 (14-21, 22-20, 21-19) in the men’s doubles final to win their first Super Series men’s doubles title since they were paired together, and their world ranking on November 10, 2016 climbed to No. 1; following that, by not missing any of the twelve Super Series tournaments of 2016, they qualified for the BWF Super Series Finals with the second-highest number of points and won their first Super Series Finals title with a straight-set two (21-14, 21-19) win over the conference’s top-seeded Japanese duo of Kenshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda in the final.
After entering 2017, the duo did not perform as well as they did last year, with their best results coming in the last eight of the All England Open, India Open and Singapore Open, and were eliminated in the first round of their home tournament, the Malaysian Open.In September 2017, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) President Nosar announced that Goh Wee Seng and Tan Wee Keong would be split up, with Goh Wee Seng partnering Teo Goh Yew Yew and Tan Wee Keong partnering Ong Yew Sin.
In December 2017, the Malaysian Badminton Federation announced that Wu Weisheng and Chen Weijiang would be re-partnered.
World Ranking – Men’s Doubles 64, Week 30, 2024
Olympic Points – Men’s Doubles 71, 25080 points
Finals Ranking – Men’s Doubles 51, 15800 points
Equipment Used
ARCSABER 11 Metallic Red; VBS-66 NANO; 75TH 65Z2; NANOFLARE 800; ASTROX 88S; SHBCFZMEX; VOLTRIC Z-FORCE; P9300; JETSPEED S 12; JETSPEED S 12 M
