Ong's partner changed to Hoon Thien How. They participated in the 2008 Indonesia Open and reached the semi-finals before being beaten by Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya, 25–23, 15–21, 15–21. This was followed by a defeat to second-seeded Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in the 2008 China Masters 15–21, 21–17, and 20–22.
In 2009, Ong and Hoon reached Vietnam Open final, but they lost to Indonesia's Luluk Hadiyanto and Joko Riyadi which were seeded 7 in straight sets, 19–21 and 20–22.