Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han’s eyes gave away the state of their minds as they came off from a quarterfinal defeat at the KAPAL API Indonesia Open 2024. Their journey together had ended; it was time to go separate ways.

Yang would say that they felt lucky this time – for they got to say goodbye at the Istora, in the quarterfinals (a first for them here), and in front of so many of their fans. That their final act together came on Lu Ching Yao’s birthday was an added poignant moment.

“We cherish our moments together,” said Yang. “Seven or eight years together, and we put a lot of effort. We have some wins and runners-up and we also made the top 10, so we are satisfied with what we have achieved.”

Lu and Yang will continue to play, but with younger partners. The Chinese Taipei duo can look back on an eventful career together, with notable achievements being the HYLO Open win and a French Open final in 2022, besides runner-up places at the Taipei Open (2023) and Thailand Masters (2019) and several semifinals of World Tour events.

Asked about the influence they had on each other, they were speechless for a while.

Lu finally said: “Po Han is very passionate in every game. Win or lose, he feels very confident in moving forward.”

“Off court, he is my best friend,” said Yang.