Soon Huat-Shevon ‘spurred on’ by temporary split
Atemporary split during last week’s National Championships could do Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai a load of good at the ongoing German Open.
On Tuesday, the mixed doubles pair reached the second round in Muelheim following a 21-17, 21-19 win over Japan’s Takuro Hoki-Wakana Nagahara.
With only three weeks to prepare for the competition in Germany, Shevon admitted that it was a good move by head coach Pang Cheh Chang to split his top combinations for the national meet.
Soon Huat was paired up with Cheah Yee See while Shevon partnered Hoo Pang Ron.
The other two pairs who swapped partners were Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing.
“The temporary split allowed Soon Huat and I to focus on our strengths and also to take charge of things.
“When we partner our junior teammates, we got to lead by example.
“I think the split during the national meet helped us a lot. Hopefully, we get to use it to our advantage here as we try to defend our title,” said Shevon yesterday.
Following the early exit of 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying on Tuesday, all eyes will be on Soon Huat-Shevon to deliver the goods.
The fifth seeded Malaysians will face Russia’s Rodion Alimov-Alina Davletova today for a place in the quarter-finals.
Apart from Peng Soon-Liu Ying, two other national pairs — Tang Jie-Yen Wei and Kian Meng-Pei Jing — both failed to clear the first round.