Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun taming the Olympic champions on home turf in a final was nothing short of amazing, especially after the pair recovered from a serious injury where Man had to be rushed to the hospital.
That was back in May during the SEA Games where the Malaysians had to retire after Man injured his left knee against Thailand in the SEA Games men’s team final.
Tee was also not spared, playing through the pain barrier to help the country in Hanoi, where the biennial Games was held.
Fast forward to two months later, the world number 36 pair captured the nation's attention after they stunned Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin in three heart-stopping games to lift the Taipei Open men's doubles title.
Tee was in tears when he and his partner could not contribute a medal at the SEA Games.
It was a different script this time altogether, with a new target firmly locked in.
“It was not easy to recover from that injury. Beating the Olympic champions is not the same. We are over the moon with this achievement.
“We were just focused on doing our best in every rally in the final. We studied our opponents’ game with each other in our hotel room before the match, and it paid off.
“Our next target is to break into the world top 20. We promise our best in every tournament. We are amazed by the support from everyone, and appreciate every one of them,” they said.
Man-Tee’s triumph also meant Malaysia finally landed a top-tier World Tour title since May, when Lee Zii Jia won the Thailand Open.
Justin Hoh recently won the Bonn International and Croatia Open titles, but those were lower-tier events without top names' participation.
This was the Man-Tee's second title of the season, having won the Syed Modi International in January.
Man-Tee winning also helped divert some criticism from the men’s doubles contingent in general, following recent early exits.
At the recent Singapore Open, all the pairs crashed out as early as the second round.
