Malaysia’s newly formed mixed doubles partnership of Jimmy Wong and Cheng Su Yin pulled off a stunning upset at the Singapore Open on Tuesday after defeating China’s world No. 1 pair in the opening round.
The Malaysian duo shocked top seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping 23-21, 21-16 in a composed and disciplined performance that marked one of the biggest surprises of the tournament so far.
Both Jimmy and Su Yin credited patience and mental composure as the key factors behind the breakthrough victory.
The partnership was only formed last month after Hoo Pang Ron left the national badminton setup, resulting in Su Yin teaming up with Jimmy for the first time.
Their debut together at last week’s Malaysia Masters ended in disappointment after a straight-sets first-round loss to Denmark’s world No. 6 pair Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje.
However, the pair bounced back impressively in Singapore with a mature tactical display against the Chinese favourites.
Su Yin revealed that before stepping onto court, she reminded Jimmy to stay patient throughout the match because points would be extremely difficult to win against the world’s top-ranked pair.
“Our game plan was to stay patient because they are world No. 1 and it’s hard to get easy winners,” she said in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation.
“I told him we had to be even more patient, whether at the front or back court.”
Jimmy shared the same view, saying the pair focused on staying calm while remaining aggressive when opportunities appeared.
“The key was patience because they are strong and the top seeds, so we needed to stay patient and aggressive at the same time,” he said.
He added that the pair worked hard to quickly move on from their disappointing Malaysia Masters exit and regain confidence ahead of the Singapore Open.
Su Yin also admitted she deliberately avoided discussing her previous experience against the Chinese pair with Jimmy before the match to prevent unnecessary pressure on her new partner.
Two years ago, she and Pang Ron had pushed Yan Zhe and Dong Ping to three games in the China Masters final.
“I didn’t want to tell him too much because I was worried it might increase the pressure,” she explained.
“So I just told him to focus on playing our own game.”
The Malaysian pair will next face either India’s Rohan Kapoor and G. Ruthvika Shivani or Taiwan’s Yang Po Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang in Thursday’s second round.
