January 16, 2022, 10:17 PM
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Singaporean husband and wife pair, Terry Hee and Tan Wei Han, won first place in the mixed doubles final in the India Open on Sunday (Jan. 16).
Reunited as badminton partners in 2021
Hee and Tan beat Malaysia's World No. 40 Chen Tang Jie and Peck Yen Wei 21-15 and 21-18 in a 40-minute match in New Delhi.
They had advanced through the semi-finals when one half of Russia's World No. 19 mixed doubles pair contracted Covid-19. The other was identified as a close contact.
For their first Super 500 triumph, the fourth tier of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour circuit, they collected a US$31,600 (S$42,589) winners' cheque, which is the biggest of their career so far, reported The Straits Times.
26-year-old Hee and 28-year-old Tan are ranked World No. 182, and were once ranked as high as 33rd in 2017.
This is their seventh title as a partnership and the biggest in their career.
Hee went on a hiatus after enlisting for national service in 2019, and the duo started playing together again only last year.
They won the Czech Open in Oct. 2021, the same month that the pair tied the knot.
Image by Singapore Badminton Association.
Praise from S'poreans
A number of politicians, including Minister Edwin Tong and Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin have congratulated them for upsetting the odds and winning the title.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong congratulated the couple for the "superb showing".
He praised Tan for being "cool, composed and deft", and complimented Hee for his "devastating" jump smashes.
Speaker Tan praised the "awesome results" by the duo.And Minister of State Alvin Tan praised Hee and Tan for "making us all so proud".https://mothership.sg/2022/01/loh-kean-yew-india-open/Follow and listen to our podcast here
Top image by Singapore Badminton Association.
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