Tang Jie-Ee Wei make history as they enter Tour final in Hangzhou

PETALING JAYA: National mixed doubles shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei created history when they became the first Malaysians to qualify for a final event in the season-ending RM11 million BWF World Tour Finals since its inception in 2018.

Tang Jie-Ee Wei, who had beaten Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai in their opening Group B tie on Wednesday, proved that it was no fluke when they won again by a 21-15, 21-12 scoreline in a semi-final clash this morning.

The match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in China lasted 42 minutes.

In the final, the world No 8 will meet China’s third-ranked Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong who defeated compatriots Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin 21-11, 21-18 in the other semi-final.

Tang Jie-Ee Wei, who won the Korean Open in September, made fewer mistakes and showed better teamwork to upstage the older and more experienced Soon Huat-Shevon.

However, Soon Huat-Shevon will not go home empty-handed as they will receive US$50,000 for qualifying for the semi-finals.

Tang Jie-Ee Wei topped Group B with Soon Huat-Shevon as the runners-up after three matches, and they were originally drawn to play the top two winners in Group A, who are both from China, in this morning’s semi-finals.

However, in a late night “redraw” by BWF yesterday, the top two pairs in each group were picked to play each other.

The winners in both the men’s and women’s singles events will pocket US$200,000 each, with the runners-up getting US$100,000. The other semi-finalists will receive US$50,000 each.

The third-placed men’s and women’s singles players in the group will pocket US$27,500 each, and those placed fourth will take home US$15,000 each.

In the doubles events, the winners will receive US$210,000 and the runners-up US$100,000. The other semi-finalists will pocket US$50,000 each. Those placed third and fourth in the group will receive US$32,000 and US$17,500, respectively.