Ee Wei and her partner Chen Tang Jia made history in Paris at the 2025 World Championships by becoming the first Malaysian players to win the mixed doubles title by beating second seeds Jiang Zhenbang & Wei Yaxin in straight sets. The intensity they brought to the pitch was unplayable at times; Their Chinese rivals struggled to gain a foothold in the game.
Ee Wei has lived on the edge of badminton greatness her entire career, but somehow, due to injuries, illness or just plain bad luck, she hasn’t climbed onto the podium very often. But on one glorious day – after an almost flawless tournament – after years of hard work everything came together.
Looking back, Ee Wei’s journey was not smooth. Her career could have been ended by surgeries, rejections, illnesses, injuries and the pandemic shutdown, but through it all, she soldiered on. She never extinguished the flame of her ambition.
Ee Wei was on the podium at the Junior World Championships back in November 2016. At 16, she was the youngest medalist and was considered a rising star. She started training badminton at her local club at the age of 7, and by the time she was 13, her life revolved around training and schoolwork at Bukit Jalil Sports School. In 2018 she was part of the national squad and everything was looking good with Pearly Tan, who won silver at the Asian and Junior World Championships in girls’ doubles.
Then everything came to a standstill. Chronic sinusitis required surgery, but afterward it was impossible to balance effective recovery with national training. Reluctantly, she had to take the long view, so she left the team and ended her partnership with Pearly.
She refused to give up. For a while, she trained independently so she could control the pace of her work and her tournament schedule. He finally returned to the national team in 2020, but was again derailed by the global pandemic and movement restrictions. She endured training for months without aiming for a tournament; At the same time, we fight against isolation and bad moods. She had reached a dead end.
XD coach Paulus threw her a lifeline. He suggested she change disciplines and as the world learned to live with Covid, she was paired with Choong Hon Jain and together they won the 2021 Polish Open, followed by two more titles. Just when it looked like she was getting going in her career, she was hit with another blow: bone tuberculosis. Because of the weeks of hospital treatment, she was at times too sick to walk.
Her comeback in 2022 made her dig deep within herself. She needed to rebuild her muscles and refine her skills. Together with Chan Peng Soon and Hoo Pang Ron, she fought her way into the top 30 in the world. After a team reshuffle just months before Olympic qualifying, she was compared to Chen Tang Jie, and perhaps – far off – fate began to call her name.
They grew together. They won the 2023 Orleans Masters shortly after being part of the bronze medal-winning Malaysian Sudirman Cup team. Successes led to them breaking into the top 10 in the world. There were still some setbacks, but they soldiered on and secured a spot at the Paris Olympics.
The Olympics are always tough and for this couple, Paris 2024 brought some triumphs but also frustration. They fought their way through the group stage and upset the world number 2, but in the QF she injured herself on a desperate jump. She continued to fight, but they failed. I think this experience exhausted her. The Olympics can be exceptional because it appeals to non-sports fans, but that brings with it additional pressure. We’ve seen post-Olympic fatigue in many athletes and in an article in the Star in August 2024 she spoke of trying to rediscover her rhythm of play and mental fatigue.
The partnership seemed tentative and six months later, after a disappointing early exit from the All England, they parted ways in what coach Rexy described as a “tactical reset”. It was a brave call. The bet was that the two athletes would realize they were stronger together or that they would refocus in a new pairing.
In retrospect, the breakup was an inspired decision. After violent protests from fans and negotiations with coaches and officials, they formed. They had decided to take advantage of the opportunity and start rebuilding from the outset. They knew what they needed to improve to stay together; Last but not least, communication and learning to concentrate on the next point.
Together again, but no sudden leap forward. Instead, hard training to redesign their relationship. Rexy Mainaky noted that although he could see some encouraging signs, it was time for both of them to grow up and put their past difficulties behind them. Although the tournament results did not excite the world, they began to string together victories. They came to the World Championships as number four seeds and knew that focus and mutual support were essential. Their coaches believed in them, the fans supported them and in one wonderful week their plans finally came to fruition, ending up at the top of the podium with only gold medals around their necks.
Today Ee Wei is more than just a world champion. She is proof that success is not about a smooth climb, but rather about not giving up, even when a new beginning seems impossible.
Most of this article was written by a big fan of Ee Wei – Lucy XU Fang Ning. I would like to thank her for sharing her knowledge and giving me permission to publish this shorter version of her original.
Lucy’s original article covering Ee Wei’s journey in more detail can be found here https://xfnrandomname.blogspot.com/2024/07/toh-ee-wei-everyone-has-their-own-story.html?m=1&fbclid=PAZ Xh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabqTfL2AtH_3Ave74I79prd5XPI8cFAIPYoVQ5dYOn_KPleI6z1CDY3G_8_aem_TpEfeKALm1ub2aVDg_US8wor if you prefer the Chinese language version https://xfnrandomname.blogspot.com/2024/07/blog-post.html?m=1&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTE AAaZo0qeonDJKniUJl75RbiNS_8WizYhDKbDNL8udYYnPssgQt1gWtT_mlP0_aem_5XBl9wkJt568gCp6kFJuYQ
If you like reading about badminton, you’ll find plenty of it on this website, or you’ll also find lots of interesting stuff on Rene Biaoli’s website: https://badmintoniacs.wordpress.com/
