Soon Huat-Shevon eye German Open title defence
PETALING JAYA:
Mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (pic) are out to rediscover their winning touch by lifting the German Open title for the second year in a row.
The duo will begin their campaign in Mulheim today and are hoping the tournament will be their happy hunting ground again.
Soon Huat-Shevon lifted their first career title at the German Open last year and went on to win the Singapore Open in July. Their fine form saw them move up to their career-best world ranking at sixth.
But as inconsistency crept in, their fortunes dwindled and they slipped out of the top 10 by October.
They duo are hoping a successful title defence this week will be the right tonic to re-establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
The world No. 12 Soon Huat-Shevon will open their campaign against world No. 47 Takuro Hoki-Wakana Nagahara of Japan, whom they had defeated easily in the second round of Malaysian Masters last month.
A win would see them face Holland’s Jacco Arends-Cheryl Seinen and if they advance, they should meet China’s He Jiting-Du Yue in last eight.
The other notable rivals in the same half are Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai, South Korea’s Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung and compatriots Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who are drawn against Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas in the opening round.
Head coach Pang Cheh Chang believes Soon Huat-Shevon are moving in the right direction.
“They have been quite consistent in the first two tournaments of the year, so hopefully they can keep their momentum going,” said Cheh Chang.
“They will do fine as long as they are focused, stick to their game plans and perform to their true abilities.”
The pair reached the quarter-finals at the Malaysian and Indonesian Masters last month.
The other Malaysians in action today are recently-crowned national champions Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying and Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying will face Russia’s Evgenij Dremin-Evgenia Dimova while Tang Jie-Yen Wei take on Tontowi AhmadWinny Oktavina Kandow of Indonesia.
In today’s men’s singles qualifiers, Malaysia will be banking on Cheam June Wei, Soong Joo Ven and Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin to make the main draw.