Tan Wee Kiong


Tan Wee Kiong is a Malaysian professional badminton player in the doubles event. He began partnership with his current partner, Goh V Shem at the 2014 Thomas Cup. Together, Tan and Goh won the gold medal in the men's doubles and the mixed team event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. They also won bronze at the 2014 Asian Games. In their Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics, they won the silver medal, becoming the first Malaysian pair to achieve such a feat since 1996. In November 2016, they reached a career-high ranking of world number 1, making them the third ever Malaysian men's doubles pair to do so.
badminton double final

Early and personal life

Tan was born on 21 May 1989 in Johor to Tan Cham Swe and Tan Yok Hua. His brothers, Tan Wee Tat and Tan Wee Gieen, are also professional badminton players. Tan started playing badminton when he was 6 and joined Bukit Jalil Sport School when he was 13. Tan and beautician Chia Shi Leng wed in 2016. Due to Tan's tight schedule, their wedding reception was held in December 2017 at The St. Regis Hotel Kuala Lumpur, with 700 guests in attendance. The couple welcomed their first son in March 2019.

Career

Early career

Tan started his junior career as a mixed doubles player. However, he later transitioned into men's doubles. In 2007, he won the Asian Junior Championships mixed doubles gold medal with Woon Khe Wei. They were seeded second and first at the 2006 and 2007 World Junior Championships but were defeated in the fourth round on both occasions.

2010–2014

In 2010, he briefly partnered Mak Hee Chun. They played together at the 2010 Asian Games but were beaten in the round of 32. Later, he partnered Hoon Thien How. They reached a career high of no. 7 worldwide. Their campaign at the 2013 World Championships ended in the third round after a loss to Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. Later that year, the pair reached their first ever Super Series semifinal at the French Open. Shortly after, the two won their first career title at the 2013 Macau Open. They were runners-up at the 2013 China Open and in that same year, they qualified for the Super Series Finals after the withdrawal of compatriots, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong. However, they failed to advance past the group stage.
Tan played his last tournament with Hoon at the 2014 World Championships in August 2014. Their campaign ended in the quarterfinals where they lost to the eventual champions, Shin Baek-cheol and Ko Sung-hyun.

2014–present

In May 2014, Tan was scratch partnered with Goh V Shem to play second men's doubles at the 2014 Thomas Cup. They won all four matches that they contested and defeated several highly ranked players along the way despite this being the first time ever that the two has played together internationally. Their debut partnership at the Thomas Cup was widely praised. Malaysia made it to the finals for the first time in 12 years but was narrowly defeated by Japan with a score of 2-3.
In August, Tan represented Malaysia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with Goh V Shem. They went on to take the gold medal and were the only medalists in the tournament who were not seeded. En route to the gold medal, they defeated top seeds, Chris Adcock and Andrew Ellis of England in the semifinals as well as 3rd seeds, Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Chayut Triyachart of Singapore in the finals. They also won all five matches they contested in the mixed team event, helping Malaysia secure their third consecutive mixed team gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Following the World Championships in September, Tan and Goh have been officially partnered. They represented Malaysia at the 2014 Asian Games where they made it to semifinals but were defeated by top seeds, Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong of South Korea. The defeat automatically earned them the bronze medal as there is no bronze medal playoffs in badminton at the Asian Games. En route to the semifinals, they defeated 5th seeds, Lee Sheng-mu / Tsai Chia-hsin of Chinese Taipei in the round of 32 and 3rd seeds, Kenichi Hayakawa / Hiroyuki Endo of Japan in the quarterfinals with a score of 21-16, 21-16.
They were semifinalists at the 2015 Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold in January that year. In March, they became runners-up to Cai Yun and Lu Kai at the 2015 Swiss Open. At the 2015 Sudirman Cup in May, Goh and Tan managed to upset the World No. 1, Lee Yong-dae / Yoo Yeon-seong in the first group tie against South Korea. Malaysia topped Group D and were drawn against South Korea once again in the quarterfinals but failed to advance. At the 2015 World Championships in August, Tan and Goh defeated defending champions Shin Baek-cheol and Ko Sung-hyun in the second round but were defeated in the third round. Tan and Goh won their first title together at the 2015 U.S. Open. They then went on to win their second title at the 2016 Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold. They then became beaten semifinalists at the All England Open and the Indian Super Series. At the 2016 Thomas Cup, Tan won three out of his five matches played. Malaysia made it to the semifinals but lost to eventual winners Denmark.
Tan and Goh made their Olympics debut at the 2016 Summer Olympics. They won all their matches in the group stage to top group B and qualify for the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, they stun Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong to reach the semi-finals.
Tan and Goh later beat Chai Biao and Hong Wei in the semifinals. They once again face Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan in the finals but this time falling short with a score of 21-16, 11-21, 21-23, taking home silver.
In October 2016, Tan won his first Super Series tournament title with Goh at the 2016 Denmark Open. In November, they became the new world number 1 in men's doubles. In December, Tan and Goh won the 2016 Super Series Masters Finals.
He briefly partnered with Ong Yew Sin before resuming his partnership with Goh in early 2018.
His partnership was resumed with Goh V Shem in order to help Malaysia in 2018 Thomas & Uber Cup. In the group stage, they defeated Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov from Russia. They were defeated by Denmark and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon by three sets:19-21 22-20 13-21.

Achievements

Olympic Games

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Riocentro - Pavilion 4, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Goh V Shem Zhang Nan
Fu Haifeng		21–16, 11–21, 21–23 Silver

Commonwealth Games

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2018Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre,
Gold Coast, Australia		 Goh V Shem Sachin Dias
Buwaneka Goonethilleka		21–8, 21–13 Bronze
2014Emirates Arena,
Glasgow, Scotland		 Goh V Shem Danny Bawa Chrisnanta
Chayut Triyachart		21–12, 12–21, 21–15 Gold

Asian Games

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2014Gyeyang Gymnasium,
Incheon, South Korea		 Goh V Shem Lee Yong-dae
Yoo Yeon-seong		6–21, 15–21 Bronze

Asian Junior Championships

Boys' doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2007Stadium Juara,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia		 Mohd Lutfi Zaim Li Tian
Chai Biao		12–21, 8–21 Silver
2006Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia		 Mohd Lutfi Zaim Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif
Vountus Indra Mawan		 Bronze

Mixed doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2007Stadium Juara,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia		 Woon Khe Wei Shin Baek-cheol
Yoo Hyun-young		21–18, 16–21, 21–12 Gold
2006Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia		 Woon Khe Wei Lee Yong-dae
Yoo Hyun-young		15–21, 9–21 Silver

BWF World Tour (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Men's doubles
YearTournamentLevelPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2019Korea MastersSuper 300 Goh V Shem Lee Yang
Wang Chi-lin		19–21, 22–20, 19–21 Runner-up
2019Chinese Taipei OpenSuper 300 Goh V Shem Choi Sol-gyu
Seo Seung-jae		21–19, 15–21, 23–21 Winner
2019Thailand MastersSuper 300 Goh V Shem Lu Ching-yao
Yang Po-han		21–13, 21–17 Winner
2018Malaysia MastersSuper 500 Goh V Shem Fajar Alfian
Muhammad Rian Ardianto		21–14, 22–24, 13–21 Runner-up

BWF Superseries (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. BWF Superseries has two levels: Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.
Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016BWF Super Series Finals Goh V Shem Takeshi Kamura
Keigo Sonoda		21–14, 21–19 Winner
2016Denmark Open Goh V Shem Bodin Isara
Nipitphon Puangpuapech		14–21, 22–20, 21–19 Winner
2013China Open Hoon Thien How Lee Yong-dae
Yoo Yeon-seong		13–21, 12–21 Runner-up

BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation since 2007.
Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Syed Modi International Goh V Shem Pranaav Jerry Chopra
Akshay Dewalkar		14–21, 24–22, 21–8 Winner
2015U.S. Grand Prix Goh V Shem Vladimir Ivanov
Ivan Sozonov		21–14, 21–17 Winner
2015Russian Open Goh V Shem Vladimir Ivanov
Ivan Sozonov		20–22, 19–21 Runner-up
2015Swiss Open Goh V Shem Cai Yun
Lu Kai		19–21, 21–14, 17–21 Runner-up
2013Macau Open Hoon Thien How Lee Sheng-mu
Tsai Chia-hsin		21–16, 21–19 Winner

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2011Indonesia International Ow Yao Han Rendra Wijaya
Rian Sukmawan		13–21, 21–19, 16–21 Runner-up

Mixed doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2009Malaysia International Woon Khe Wei Mak Hee Chun
Ng Hui Lin		21–6, 13–21, 21–17 Winner
2007Malaysia International Woon Khe Wei Lim Khim Wah
Ng Hui Lin		15–21, 14–21 Runner-up

Honours

Honours of Malaysia