They’re the right mix
Goh-Shevon and Chan-Cheah stun higher seeds to storm into last eight
PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See ousted higher-ranked players to storm into the quarter-finals of the Korean Open.
World No. 18 Soon Huat-Shevon scored a couple of firsts after pulling off a spectacular 24-26, 21-18, 21-18 win over seniors Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing in the 71-minute second-round match in Seoul yesterday.
Their first victory over world No. 10 Kian Meng-Pei Jing ensured they will be making their first quarter-final appearance in the Superseries.
Soon Huat- Shevon lost in straight games to Kian Meng-Pei Jing when they last met – in the final of the Malaysian Masters in Sibu in January.
Today, Soon Huat-Shevon will take on Melvin Emil Seidel-Linda Efler of Germany for a place in the semi-finals.
The Germans pulled off an upset 21- 19, 21- 17 win over Japan’s Kenta Kazuno- Ayane Kurihara yesterday.
Shevon was happy that her partnership with Soon Huat is gaining ground.
“We prepared well but what worked for us today was our communication and the trust we have for each other,” said Shevon, a third-year University Malaya student.
“We stand a good chance in the quarter-final against the Germans but we don’t want to make the mistake of being overconfident.”
Peng Soon-Yee See also scored a big win yesterday – dumping second seeds and world No. 4 Chris Adcock- Gabrielle Adcock of England with a sensational 16-21, 21-8, 21-16 win in a 71-minute energy-sapping match.
“This is one of the biggest wins for us since we teamed up in June,” said Peng Soon.
“We had studied their game and that gave us the clarity to adopt the right tactics. We knew what we needed to do and where to send the shuttle. We had a clear game plan.”
Today, Peng Soon-Yee See will face South Korea’s Seo Seung-jaeKim ha-na.
“We lost to the Koreans once before. Hopefully, Yee See and I will be able to raise our game tomorrow ( today),” said Peng Soon.
It was the end of the road for national No. 2 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi yesterday but they can still walk tall.
The duo gave second seeds and All- England champions Marcus Fernaldi Gideon- Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia a run for their money before losing 21-16, 22-20.