Ranked 12th in the world, Yew Sin and Ee Yi put up a strong start to win the first game despite Ee Yi not having fully recovered from a right knee injury, but the Danes quickly rebounded to level the tie in their second-round match.
With everything to be decided in the third game, Yew Sin-Ee Yi showed their grit to claw back from five points down to draw level at 12-12, then fought point-for-point before finally notching the win after a 61-minute battle.
“We controlled the first game, but the Danes started to play a fine game after that, we could hardly control, and kept lifting. We then tried to change a little bit of our gameplay, and it worked.
“We will keep trying to qualify for the Olympics until the end of the Olympics qualification (on April 28), no matter what the outcome, we will keep trying (to qualify),” Yew Sin told reporters after the match.
It is Yew Sin-Ee Yi’s second consecutive Malaysia Open quarterfinals but last year, despite making it to the quarterfinals, they went down to eventual champions Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia.
However, Ee Yi’s knee injury during the Australian Open in August affected their performance for the rest of the year, as well as their chances for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“I didn’t train so much and just started last Tuesday after a recurring knee injury, but I am very happy with the results. The injury is 80% healed, but the support from the fans helped us to fight hard,” Ee Yi said.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi are currently 11th in the Olympic qualification rankings, while Malaysia’s other men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are in fourth place.
A country can only have a maximum of two representatives in the Olympics if both are ranked among the top eight.
In the quarterfinals tomorrow, they will face the 2022 edition champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan, who thrashed Scotland’s Alexander Dunn-Adam Hall 21-11, 21-13.
Meanwhile, professional mixed doubles pair, Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See bowed out from the competition following a straight sets loss to the fifth seeds from China, Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin 14-21, 14-21.
Peng Soon admitted their opponents were at the top of their game, and gutted that they were not able to give the home fans something to cheer about in their last appearance at the Malaysia Open.
As such, Peng Soon hoped to return to the Axiata Arena much stronger during the Malaysia Masters 2024, slated to be held from May 21-26.
Zhen Bang-Ya Xin will take on third seeds, Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung after the South Korean pair ousted Indonesia’s Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, 21-12, 21-16.
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