SOON HUAT-SHEVON ON A MISSION IN HONG KONG
No. 2 mixed pair Goh and Lai fired up to book WTF ticket in Hong Kong
PETALING JAYA: National No. 2 mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie have a mission to accomplish when they compete in the Hong Kong Open starting today.
The world No. 10 seek to seal their qualification for the BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou next month and join compatriots Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying in the season-ending tournament, which is limited only to the top eight singles and pairs on the World Tour this season.
Soon Huat-Shevon are currently ranked fifth in the Race to Guangzhou and need to just reach the quarter-finals this week to confirm their spot.
If they fail to do so, they will have to wait for the completion of three more tournaments – the Syed Modi International in India and Scottish Open (Nov 22-25) and Korean Masters (Nov 27-Dec 2) – to know their fate.
Soon Huat-Shevon have amassed 68,670 points as of last week’s Fuzhou China Open – 5,620 points clear of eighth-placed Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir.
With seven more pairs outside the top eight having an opportunity to still make the cut, Shevon is aware that she and Soon Huat can’t afford any more slip-ups after losing in the first round last week.
“It’s going to be a crucial week for us and we must make it count to nail our ticket to Guangzhou,” said Shevon.
“A quarter-final spot will do for us.
“This will be our last tournament, so it’s best if we can secure it now rather than waiting for the outcome of other tournaments to decide our destiny.”
Soon Huat-Shevon should face little trouble in the first round against world No. 37 Ronan Labar-Audrey Mittelheisser of France with world No. 15 Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia expected to be their last-16 opponents.
Soon Huat-Shevon have struggled to build on their Singapore Open victory in July and their ranking had slipped from a career-best No. 6 to No. 10, no thanks to their yo-yo displays of late.
“Remaining in the top 10 is also our goal this week,” said Shevon.
“We worked very hard to get here this season and we want to make sure we end the year as a top 10 pair.”
Peng Soon-Liu Ying and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing are the other Malaysian pairs in action.
Also playing in Hong Kong are Liew Daren and Chong Wei Feng in the men’s singles; Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Arif Abdul Latif-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub; and Soniia Cheah (women’s singles).