Peng Soon-Liu Ying must take advantage of draw
KUALA LUMPUR: National mixed doubles, Chan Peng SoonGoh Liu Ying must make full use of in the group level competition of the BWF World Tour Finals Badminton Championship, as the draw sided them more, to advance to the semi-finals.
Fielded as the third/fourth seeds, the pair was in a comfortable position in group B because, based on the records, Peng Soon-Liu Ying were still unbeaten against two of their three rivals.
The winner of the silver medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics would begin their campaign against Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping of China from Dec 1216.
Based on the record of two previous confrontations, the national pair maintained an unbeaten record. The last time they won in straight sets at the quarter-finals of the Indonesian Open in July.
Subsequently, Peng SoonLiu Ying, who were also the world’s number six, would meet the Indonesian pair of Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, namely, the world’s number 12th pair, but there was no record of a meeting between the two pairs.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying would complete the group competition by meeting the second seeded pair of the championship, namely, Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan. The national pair still held an unbeaten record against them in three meetings.
The last time Peng Soon-Liu Ying won straight sets at the second round of the Denmark Open in October.
National mixed doubles chief coach, Pang Cheh Chang conceded the opportunity was more on the side of Peng SoonLiu Ying compared to the other national representatives, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai.
‘’The focus now is on the match strategy,’’ he said when contacted by Bernama.