Malaysians Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun are not getting too excited after ending the challenge of higher-seeded compatriots Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik in the CLASH OF CLANS Arctic Open 2023 powered by YONEX first round.

Their 21-11 21-18 straight games win over the second seeds also halted their run of opening match defeats at the last three HSBC BWF World Tour tournaments. Man was keen to play down the significance of their result.

“I guess there wasn’t much pressure on us because they are our seniors and among the top seeds here. We were able to give our best without overthinking,” he said. “There’s a bit of excitement of course but it’s only one match so we can’t get ahead of ourselves and lose focus.”

The last time Man and Tee cleared the first round, they went all the way at the Taipei Open in June. The world No.23s, also runners-up at the Malaysia Masters a month earlier, have however exited in the first round at six of seven other World Tour events.

“We haven’t been consistent enough. We win some, then we lose some. It’s been up and down really,” admitted the 24-year-old Man ahead of their second round bout against Keiichiro Matsui/Yoshinori Takeuchi. “So our focus in training has been geared towards lasting longer at tournaments. We want to build on these victories.”

→ Results (Day 2)

→ Order of play (Day 3)

WHAT OTHERS SAID:

“I’m happy I finally did it. I take a lot of encouragement from this as she’s a player ranked higher than me. Now I want to move forward faster and be more confident.” – Polina Buhrova after defeating Sung Shuo Yun for her first Super 500 win since January 2022

“It’s the first time we are playing another pair of sisters on the World Tour. We enjoyed the experience, (we could see) every pair (of sisters) have their own chemistry.” – Nuntakarn Aimsaard following the match against the Stoevas

“We were able to relax and take our minds off badminton for a bit. I went back to my hometown (in Hokkaido) and for some quality time with my family, which is good for my mental health.” – Mayu Matsumoto on the benefits of a three-week break as a result of not participating at the Asian Games

“To be honest, I did not prepare to play him because my initial opponent was Rasmus Gemke. Unfortunately he withdrew so it’s probably fate we met again so soon.” – Weng Hong Yang on playing Mithun Manjunath after beating him in the Asian Games Men’s Team final 10 days ago

“I’ll try my best. He’s good offensively and at netplay. Maybe I need to be more aggressive and put pressure on him.” – Chou Tien Chen on taking on Ng Tze Yong, who won their last two encounters