After a nervy few weeks of waiting, Singapore’s badminton mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan have finally fulfilled their dream of competing at the Olympics. The duo’s entry to the July 26–Aug 11 Paris Games was confirmed by the Badminton World...
After a nervy few weeks of waiting, Singapore’s badminton mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan have finally fulfilled their dream of competing at the Olympics .
Tan, 30, added: “This is an affirmation of all the hard work and dedication we’ve put in, and it proved all the difficulties we have gone through were worth it in the end.”Compared to at least 38 entries for the singles events, there are only 16 spots for the doubles competitions at the Olympics.As top pairs from America, Africa and Oceania receive continental quotas if they are in the world’s top 50, only 13 open slots remained after the year-long qualification period ended on April 28.
It worked a treat as they won the Irish Open, conquered the Guwahati Masters and made the Odisha Masters final at the end of 2023. They reached the semi-final of the top-tier Malaysia Open in January 2024 and “made up a lot of ground” to rise to 12th in the Race to Paris ranking. But they received a lifeline as Australia, who occupied the Oceania continental quotas in four events but are allowed to accept only two, elected to take up the slots in the women’s singles and women’s doubles. This freed up one more mixed doubles spot for the next eligible pair in the rankings, which went to the Singaporeans.
There were other challenges, as Hee made the difficult decision to end a promising men’s doubles partnership with Loh Kean Hean at the end of 2022 to focus on the mixed doubles, while Tan’s mother died from illness a few months later. Squabbles ensued during their slump, and the couple credited national doubles coach Paulus Firman for being “a coach, mentor, mediator and father figure” for them.
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