KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky said the decision to separate Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei was intended to allow both players to reflect on the challenges they are currently facing.
Mixed doubles head coach Nova Widianto and himself had decided to pair Chen with Chan Wen Tse, while Toh would partner Loo Bing Kun in five tournaments starting in May to reassess the future of the world number four duo.
He said Chen and Toh will compete with their new partners at the Taiwan Open (May 6 to May 11), Thailand Open (May 13 to May 18), Malaysia Masters (May 20 to May 25), Singapore Open (May 27 to June 1) and Indonesia Open (June 3 to June 8).
However, the first three tournaments — the Taiwan Open, Thailand Open and Malaysia Masters — will be used as benchmarks to determine whether the experiment is successful.
"We noticed that Ee Wei is usually very determined not to lose, while Tang Jie tends to be quieter, and this dynamic has affected their relationship and led to inconsistent performances," Rexy told the press after a training session today.
He does not rule out the possibility of Chen and Toh teaming up again if they realise that they would be better off playing together.
Rexy added that Chen's recent remark about still having strong feelings for Toh, as reported by the press, was a positive sign, offering hope that they could reunite in the future.
He cited the example of men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who had previously split but later reunited to become the world’s second-ranked pair after struggling with other partners.
He said the Chen-Chan and Toh-Loo combinations could be retained if they performed well in the five tournaments.
The move could also help Chan and Loo gain valuable experience by partnering with Chen and Toh, who are ranked fourth in the world.
Rexy confirmed that he and men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi had agreed to Chens' request to also compete in the men’s doubles event during his time apart from Toh.
The 27-year-old will pair up with Wong Vin Sean for the Taiwan Open and Thailand Open.
Earlier today, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) confirmed that Chen and Toh had been separated for upcoming tournaments following a recommendation by the coaching panel, including Rexy and Nova, in a recent performance committee meeting.
Tensions between the pair reportedly began during the Paris 2024 Olympics, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing 19-21, 14-21 to South Korea’s Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun.
Recently, Toh deleted all her photos with Chen from her Instagram account following their first-round exit at the All England 2025.
On BAM’s recent restructuring of its coaching team, Rexy, who was previously the coaching director at the Academy Badminton Association, expressed full support for the move, as doubles coaching remains his passion and expertise.
The restructuring on Tuesday (March 25) saw Denmark’s Kenneth Jonassen, formerly the national singles head coach, appointed as the new singles coaching director.
— Bernama
