It isn’t getting easier at his age, but Tan Wee Kiong still wants to achieve “something special”.

The 36-year-old, among the oldest active players on the circuit, broke a sequence of seven first-round losses as he and 31-year-old partner Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn crossed their first obstacle at KAPAL API Indonesia Open 2025.

A surprisingly one-sided 21-17 21-12 result over Xie Hao Nan/Zeng Wei Han helped them into the Round of 16, where they will face compatriots and world No.1s Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin.

“At our age we are (still) trying to achieve something. Of course we try to enjoy the game and we try to achieve something special in our career,” said Tan. “We’ve escaped from the first round. But we have to keep our focus.”

Incidentally, it was at this venue back in January, at the Indonesia Masters, that the Malaysian pair last won a round before falling to the pair they beat today. Since then, they’ve fallen at the first round of seven events.

“Our last meeting (with Xie/Zeng) was here in Indonesia, so at the beginning of the match there was lack of confidence. After a few rallies Azriyn started playing well. He led the game and we got to the right track,” said Tan.

“For me, it’s about using my experience. I get Azriyn to cover the court. We try to catch up with the top players. Hopefully we can maintain our performance.”

How has he managed to keep up with the demands of elite badminton?

“First, I have to take care of my body. Secondly, try to catch up with the faster game and high quality returns – all those things, it’s more work for Azriyn, actually! It’s getting faster, so we have to catch up.”

→ Results (First round)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“We started confidently. From the interval in the second game, our coach asked us to keep it simple, to not try many things, just play into the gaps and be ready and that’s what we did.” – Satwiksairaj Rankireddy after he and Chirag Shetty beat Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana

“It’s the same, I’m still representing Indonesia. Only the coach and sparring partner are different. I have a small team and I’m at my childhood club.” – Jonatan Christie on turning independent

“I wasn’t stressed as I thought it was over. Sometimes the good way to do things is you are not thinking about the scores, you are just playing. And the last five points I played shots I haven’t done for one hour. Sometimes just forgetting the score is good.” – Thom Gicquel after he and Delphine Delrue saved four match points against Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja

“We played after a long time. I’m glad we are still there because we’ve been playing for more than a decade. It was always good to play with Nozomi. Her game was always different.” – Pusarla V. Sindhu on longtime rival Nozomi Okuhara