The Journey of Toh Ee Wei: The Fighter’s Path

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 in a two-set demolition of the second seeds Jiang Zhenbang & Wei Yaxin. The intensity that they brought to the court was unplayable at times; their Chinese rivals struggled to get any foothold in the game.

Ee Wei has lived on the fringes of badminton greatness all her career but somehow, owing to injury, illness or just bad luck she hasn’t climbed to the top of the podium very often. However, on one glorious day – after a near faultless campaign through the tournament – everything clicked after years of hard work.

Looking back, Ee Wei’s path has not been smooth. Her career could have been ended by surgeries, rejections, illnesses, injuries and the pandemic shutdown but through it all she kept going. She never extinguished the flame of her ambition.

Back in November 2016 Ee Wei was on the podium at the World Junior Championships. At 16 she was the youngest medalist and was recognised as a rising star. Her badminton training had begun at her local club when she was 7 and by the time she was 13 her life revolved around practice and schoolwork at the Bukit Jalil Sports School. By 2018 she was part of the national squad and with Pearly Tan won silver at Asian and World Junior Championships in the Girls Doubles, everything was looking good.

Then everything stalled. Chronic sinusitis required surgery but afterwards it was impossible to balance effective recovery with national training. Reluctantly she had to take the long view, so quit 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. Eventually returning to the national team in 2020 only to be knocked off course again by the global pandemic and the movement restrictions. For months she endured training with no tournament to aim for; all the while battling isolation and a low mood. She had hit a dead end.

XD coach Paulus threw her a lifeline. He suggested she switch disciplines and as the world was learning 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 as it seemed like she was getting some career momentum another blow: bone tuberculosis. Weeks of hospital treatment meant there were times she was too ill to walk.

Her comeback in 2022 made her dig deep within herself. She had to rebuild her muscle and refine her skills. She fought her way into the world top 30 partnered with Chan Peng Soon then Hoo Pang Ron. After a team reshuffle, just a few months before Olympic qualification, she was matched with Chen Tang Jie and maybe – far in the distance – destiny was starting to call her name.

Together they grew. They claimed the 2023 Orleans Masters then soon after they were part of Malaysia’s bronze winning Sudirman cup team. Successes meant they broke into the world top 10. There were still some setbacks but they kept going and secured a spot at the Paris Olympics.

The Olympics are always tough and for this pair Paris 2024 brought some triumphs but also frustration. They battled through the group phase and upset the world #2 but in the QF a desperate dive left her injured. She kept fighting but they fell short. I think that this experience drained them. The Olympics can be extraordinary in the way that it engages non-sports fans but that brings extra pressure. We have seen post-Olympic fatigue in plenty of athletes and in an article in the Star after in August 2024 she talked about trying to rediscover her playing rhythm and mental tiredness. 

The partnership seemed subdued and six months later following a disappointing early exit from the All England they split in what coach Rexy described as a “tactical reset”. It was a brave call. The gamble was that the two athletes would realise that they were stronger together or else renew their focus in a new pairing.

In hindsight the split was an inspired decision. After significant clamour from fans and negotiations with coaches and officials they reformed. They had decided to take a chance to rebuild with a clean slate. They knew what they had to improve to stay together; not least communication and learn to focus on just the next point.

Back together but no sudden leap forward. Instead hard training to reframe their relationship. Rexy Mainaky observed that although he could see some encouraging signs it was time for them both to grow up and move on from their past difficulties. Although tournament results were failing to set the world alight they were starting to string wins together. Seeded 4 they arrived at the World Championships understanding that focus and mutual support was essential. Their coaches believed in them, the fans supported them and finally through a wonderful week their plans came together, only ending with gold medals around their necks at the top of the podium.

Today Ee Wei is more than just a world champion. She is proof that success is not about a smooth climb but about refusing to give up even when starting over seems impossible.

Most of this article was written by a big fan of Ee Wei – Lucy XU Fang Ning. I’d like to thank her for sharing her knowledge and giving me permission to post this shorter version of her original.

Lucy’s original article which covers Ee Wei’s journey in more detail is here https://xfnrandomname.blogspot.com/2024/07/toh-ee-wei-everyone-has-their-own-story.html?m=1&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabqTfL2AtH_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=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZo0qeonDJKniUJl75RbiNS_8WizYhDKbDNL8udYYnPssgQt1gWtT_mlP0_aem_5XBl9wkJt568gCp6kFJuYQ

If you like reading about badminton there’s plenty on this website or you will find lots of interest on Rene Biaoli’s site too https://badmintoniacs.wordpress.com/