The decision by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to assign Toh Ee Wei in the mixed doubles department came as a masterstroke after she and partner Choong Hon Jian captured their third title in three months.
The win at the Austrian Open final on Sunday followed victories at the Slovenia International a week before, and the Polish Open in March.
It has been a whirlwind journey for the 21-year-old Toh, who returned to the national fold for the third time in February.
During her earlier stint with the national body, Toh won silver with Pearly Tan at the World Junior Championships in 2018.
She returned last year hoping to reunite with Pearly, but her former partner was already making strides with M. Thinaah.
Toh was then paired with Anna Ching but they could not compete due to the pandemic, and Ching went on to team up with Yap Cheng Wen.
When she was placed in the mixed doubles this year, she did not even know who her partner was, and did not have a ranking in that category.
But since being paired with Choong, the pair found instant success, now ranked 182nd in the world thanks to their hat-trick of titles.
“I want to thank the BAM for giving us the chance to go out for a lot of tournaments. We vow to remain humble and continue working hard.
“We gave everything on court and supported each other throughout. When our opponents led 11-6 in the third game, we gave a pep talk to each other and it worked,” said Toh after their 16-21, 21-19, 21-19 comeback victory over top seeded pair William Villegar-Sharone Bauer.
Malaysia were double winners in Austria, thanks to men’s doubles duo Arif Junaidi-Haikal Muhammad who were equally imperious in their 21-17, 21-15 triumph over Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar.
For Arif, it was sweet birthday present as he approaches his 19th birthday on June 6.
“The turning point was in the second game. After coach gave us his analytical pointers, we came back stronger and got the win. I think we have improved a lot on since joining the senior squad.
“The quality of our shots have improved, and we always try to keep the shuttles alive, as we are reminded to never give up as long as the shuttle never hits the floor,” he said.
The world number 625 pair are expected to climb up the rankings following their first senior title success.
Malaysia also had Ching-Yap in the women’s doubles final, but they failed to make it three in three after losing in straight games.
