Peng Soon and Liu Ying reconfirm status as nation’s top mixed pair.
Sudirman Cup snub fires up Peng Soon-Liu Ying in NZ Open
PETALING JAYA: Chan Peng SoonGoh Liu Ying proved that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have made the wrong decision by excluding them from the Sudirman Cup squad when they reached the semi-finals of the New Zealand Open.
The independent duo strengthened their status as the top mixed doubles pair in Malaysia by outclassing compatriots and Sudirman Cup pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 21-16, 21-11 in just 35 minutes to reach the last-four in Auckland yesterday.
It’s Peng Soon-Liu Ying’s fourth semi-final appearance of the year. They are now just two wins away from adding a second title to their Thailand Open victory earlier in January.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying are the sole survivors in the event after another Sudirman Cup-bound pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie were sent packing by Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti.
Soon Huat-Shevon went down 14-21, 19-21.
Liu Ying said she and Peng Soon are fired up this week to make up for the loss of Olympic qualification points after missing out on the trip to the mixed team Sudirman Cup tournament in Nanning, China, from May 19-26.
“Since we don’t get to collect any (ranking) points from the Sudirman Cup later this month, there’s more reason for us to try to grab as many (ranking) points as possible from the New Zealand Open,” said Liu Ying.
“When we first saw the draw, we were confident of making at least the semi-finals or final. So here we are. We’re playing well this week and hopefully we can perform with the same intensity for the remainder of the tournament.”
Awaiting Peng Soon-Liu Ying in today’s last four are Indonesia’s Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja and they will be hoping to settle a score with the same rivals who booted them out in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open three weeks ago.
Also through to the semi-finals are professional men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong.
V Shem-Wee Kiong fought tooth and nail to pick up a 21-18, 22-24, 21-12 victory over Takuto InoueYuki Kaneko to prevent Malaysia for being completely wiped out by Japanese rivals in one day.
This comes after the other two national pairs – Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi – failed to get the better of their Japanese opponents who are coached by former Malaysian international Tan Kim Her.
Aaron-Ee Yi went down fighting 21-17, 15-21, 10-21 to top seeds Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda while Yew Sin-Ee Yi were no match for recently-crowned Asian champions Yuta Watanabe-Hiroyuki Endo, losing 7-21, 18-21.
Lee Zii Jia’s challenge in the men’s singles also ended after losing 17-21, 21-11, 19-21 to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long in a closely contested match.
Zii Jia was 12-9 and 19-18 up in the rubber game but failed to close out the game.
“Ka Long is more experienced than me. The way he handled the last few points was beyond my expectation,” said Zii Jia, who has now made the last-eight five times this year.
“Obviously I’m disappointed to lose in yet another quarters but I think I’ve given my best this week. There’s nothing to regret.