PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (pic) are not looking too far ahead as they seek to rebuild their partnership after returning together in the Singapore Open.

In their first appearance together in an individual competition since the All-England in March, Tang Jie-Ee Wei showed their class when they beat Americans Presley Smith-Jennie Gai 21-18, 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday.

The world No. 4 pair were split up due to a strained relationship and paired with Chan Wen Tse and Loo Bing Kun in the Taiwan Open and Malaysian Masters.

Tang Jie-Ee Wei though resolved their differences quickly and reunited in the Sudirman Cup last month.

Their time away did not seemed to have done much harm to their chemistry on court as they only needed 31 minutes to come away with the win over the American duo.

Tang Jie-Ee Wei also had another reason to celebrate after regaining their status as the national No. 1 after rising one spot from No. 5 in the latest world rankings.

The pair overtook Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie after the latter did not manage to defend their Malaysian Masters title.

Independent pair Soon Huat-Shevon dropped from No. 3 to No. 5 in the world.

Tang Jie-Ee Wei though are remaining cautions and are hoping to slowly return to the form that first saw them become national No. 1.

“We have not played together for quite long in a tournament and we are still trying to find our momentum,” said Ee Wei in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

“In the match today (yesterday), we were trying some new things. It’s also difficult playing in this stadium due to the wind.

“For now, we are focusing on one match at a time.”

Tang Jie-Ee Wei, who are the third seeds in the tournament, will take on Taiwan’s world No. 21 Ye Hong-wei-Nicole Chan next for a place in the last eight.

Meanwhile, Soon Huat-Shevon, who are the top seeds in the competition, also booked their spot in the second round after brushing aside Ukraine’s Oleksii Titov-Yevheniia Kantemyr 21-11, 21-8.

The husband and wife duo will next take on either China’s Feng Yanzhe-Wei Yaxin or Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard-Christine Busch.

Another independent pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien though suffered a heartbreaking exit after going down fighting 21-19, 19-21, 20-22 to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran in 61 minutes.

In the men’s doubles, veterans Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub’s challenge also ended early after they lost 18-21, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto.