Mixed doubles head coach Nova Widianto said he personally decided to allow the world No 4 pair to resolve their issues off the court.

Nova said the pair’s relationship has been strained since the 2024 Paris Olympics, which marked their debut at the prestigious global meet but ended in the quarter-finals after losing to South Korea’s Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun 19-21, 14-21.

“This issue has been lingering for some time; for instance, when results are not good, it may stem from poor relations. Perhaps the issue arose because expectations are getting higher for them.

“In the beginning, they were focused on climbing the rankings, so losing was acceptable, but now with the heightened expectations, it may be harder to handle,” he said after the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s performance task force meeting here today.

The meeting also reviewed Malaysia’s disastrous outing in the 2025 All England Championships.

Nova said this means the pair will miss the 2025 Badminton Asia Championships scheduled to be held in Ningbo, China, from April 8 to 13.

He did not rule out the possibility of pairing Tang Jie and Ee Wei with younger players for the 2025 Taiwan Open and the 2025 Thailand Open in May if their relationship does not improve.

Asked if the pair had requested to be separated, Nova confirmed that they had expressed the desire to do so as they have struggled to control their emotions around each other.

Recently, Ee Wei deleted all photos of herself with Tang Jie from her Instagram after their first-round defeat at the 2025 All England Championships, further fuelling speculation about a feud between the duo.

Tang Jie and Ee Wei had lost to Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-18, 20-22, 11-21.