BEHIND mixed doubles shutller Chen Tang Jie’s rise to becoming a world champion lies a journey filled with setbacks, sacrifices and perseverance — and his mother, Grace Chen, believes those challenges shaped him into the athlete he is today.
Tang Jie and his partner, Toh Ee Wei, etched their names in history on Sunday when they became Malaysia’s first mixed doubles pair to win a world title in Paris.
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“Becoming a successful champion is never easy. There must be obstacles, only then can you overcome them,” the proud mother told the media when met at KLIA.
That belief has guided the family since Tang Jie’s junior years.
Grace mentioned that she once chose to delay his entry into Bukit Jalil Sports School, fearing he was too young to balance both academics and sports.
When Tang Jie was forced to find a new partner following Peck Yen Wei’s retirement, she reminded him that such setbacks were part of the athlete’s journey.
“Sometimes he shares his feelings with me, but I always tell him, you are an adult now, you must learn to handle these things yourself,” she stated.
She stressed that her family’s role was never to shield Tang Jie from hardship but to give him the strength to face it.
Even with the sting of online criticism, she encouraged her son to rise above.
“We can encourage him when he is stuck, but in the end, he has to find his own way.
“We cannot control what people say about us. We can only control ourselves.
“If your heart isn’t strong, don’t read it. If you do read it, decide what is right and what is not, and then move on,” she said.
On the night Tang Jie and Ee Wei clinched their historic world title, Grace was watching from her home in Seremban with her mother. The victory brought tears of joy after years of struggle.
“As a boy, whenever he lost, he would always cry.
“Now, he cries tears of joy,” she beamed.