SOON HUAT-SHEVON REACH SINGAPORE OPEN QUARTERS

PETALING JAYA: National No. 1 mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie lived up to their top billing by reaching the quarter-finals at the Singapore Open.

The pair, who are the second seeds and world No. 8, defeated Ren Xiangyu-Tang Jinhua of China 21-19, 21-9 to set up a meeting against qualifiers Rinov RivaldyPitha Haningtyas Mentari of Indonesia for a place in the semi-finals.

“Finally, we’ve come through the early rounds.

“We had two semis in January and one final in March but we’ve been inconsistent since then,” said Shevon.

Shevon-Soon Huat reached the semis of the Masters in Malaysia and Indonesia and made it to the final of the German Open in March. Their previous best was a quarter-final finish at the Australian Open in May.

“The plan is to reach another final this year but it’ll not be easy.

“It’ll get tougher from the quarter-final onwards.

“We’ll focus on our match against the Indonesians.”

Shevon- Soon Huat, currently Malaysia’s top ranked pair ahead of Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (9th) and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (19th), are hoping for a timely boost before the World Championships in Nanjing, China, from July 30-Aug 5.

Malaysia’s future stars Aaron ChiaSoh Wooi Yik almost joined Soon HuatShevon in the last eight but squandered a 18-15 lead in the decider before going doing fighting 19-21, 21-18, 20-22 to Indonesians Angga Pratama- Rian Agung Saputro in a thrilling second round men’s doubles match yesterday.

Malaysia had mixed fortunes in the men’s singles when independent shuttler Chong Wei Feng marched into the quarter-finals but it was all over for Liew Daren.

Wei Feng had an easy ride into the quarter-finals with a 21-11, 21-16 win over Thailand’s Pannawit Thongnuam but Daren went down fighting 21-23, 16-21 against Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia in the second round.

Wei Feng will have a tough time against China’s Qiao Bin next.