NEW PARTNER ON COURT

Hee pairs up with Jin for Guwahati Masters defence as his wife Tan recovers from injury

- David Lee

With one half of Singapore's top badminton mixed doubles pair recovering from injury, Terry Hee will attempt to retain their Guwahati Masters crown in December with a new partner.

Instead of playing alongside his wife Jessica Tan, he will be partnering Jin Yujia at the US$100,000 (S$135,000) Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 100 event from Dec 3 to 8.

On Nov 25, the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) confirmed the move and a spokesman explained that it was looking to explore different combinations, adding that this is a good time to do so, as Tan "has not fully recovered from her injuries and is not sufficiently competition-fit".

Hee, 29, said: "It has been a remarkable partnership and a very special journey and it's not going to be the same on court again without Jessica.

"But in sport, it is important to trust the coaches, and the next few tournaments will be important as a measure of my compatibility with Yujia."

Hee and Tan have enjoyed a fruitful decade-long partnership, earning 10 titles since winning the 2014 Singapore International in their debut.