KUALA LUMPUR – Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai are the only Malaysians left to continue their quest in the mixed doubles at the Hong Kong Open today.
The world number 12 pair wasted no time, finishing off Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang in only 26 minutes, 21-12, 21-9.
With the victory, the engaged pair booked a berth in tomorrow’s quarter-finals to meet Indonesians Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari.
It is also their first quarter-final since finishing runners-up at the Swiss Open in the BWF World Tour Title in March.
“We haven’t been performing as we expected lately and we have been facing up to opponents who were quite a threat to us.
“So this time being able to overcome the Japanese pair (in the first round) that we’ve never won before, it’s quite a big breakthrough for us both and getting into the quarter-final.
“This motivates us to push forward and we are expecting a tough match against the Indonesians tomorrow… we are not taking them lightly,” said Shevon during the post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation.
Countrymen Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei did not make it through the second round after bowing out to China’s Guo Xin Wa and Wei Ya Xin after a rubber game 18-21, 12-12, 19-21, in under an hour.
As for the last men’s singles to be playing for the Malaysian camp, 42nd-ranked Leong Jun Hao succumbed to second-ranked Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, 21-14, 21-11, in 36 minutes.
The nation’s hopes now lie with Ng Tze Yong as he will be going up against Magnus Johannesen of Denmark. – September 14, 2023