KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — National top mixed doubles player Toh Ee Wei sought inspiration ahead of the Malaysia Masters 2026 by meeting national muay thai star Muhammad Johan Ghazali at a combat sports event in Negeri Sembilan recently.
Ee Wei said the opportunity to meet the Thailand 2025 SEA Games gold medallist in the 57-kilogramme (kg) category, better known as Jojo, was used to exchange views, particularly on dealing with public criticism when not delivering their best performances.
“I had a chit-chat with Jojo and he is truly an extraordinary athlete. He is a fighter and I hope I can also become a fighter on court.
“Our journeys seem quite similar. Many people criticise and get angry with us. It does not matter if we are criticised or anything else, what matters is that we have discipline, train hard and always try to do the best for our country,” she said.
Ee Wei said this during the Malaysia Masters 2026 court testing session, with the tournament scheduled to begin tomorrow until May 24 at Unifi Arena here, today.
She and Jojo also shared photos of their meeting on their respective Instagram accounts.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old player said she and partner Chen Tang Jie are fully prepared to challenge any pair in this year’s Malaysia Masters.
“It does not matter who we play against, once we step onto the court, we will give it our all,” she said.
The reigning world champions, seeded second in the Super 500 tournament, will open their campaign against world number 56 pair Jonathan Lai-Crystal Lai of Canada in the first round.
The Malaysia Masters 2026 offers a total prize purse of US$500,000 (RM1.98 million). — Bernama
