Finally, Soon Huat-Shevon smash their way into semis
MALAYSIAN mixed doubles Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai finally got the breakthrough they craved for when they reached the semi-finals of the China Open in Fuzhou yesterday.
The national No 1, who have been struggling for form since reaching the semi-finals of the All-England in March, advanced in style when they upset World No 4 Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand 21-13, 21-18 in the last eight.
The 2018 Singapore Open champions will meet world No 1 Zheng SiweiHuang Yaqiong of China in today’s last four.
The Malaysian World No 11, however, are not getting carried away.
With the BWF World Tour Finals almost out of reach, Soon Huat-Shevon want to take it one match at a time.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Shevon told Timesport.
“We are very happy with the win and the way we played today (yesterday).
“Soon Huat and I have been training hard and, more importantly, supporting each other.”
There’s another reason for their cautious approach.
Shevon said: “We realised that we tend to put ourselves under tremendous pressure when we expect too much of ourselves... that’s then we fail.
“We are learning to keep our emotions in check.”
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik also caused a stunning upset in men’s doubles when they downed reigning world champions Muhammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan 21-13, 22-20, in the quarter-finals.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will face world No 4 Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda of Japan next.
Meanwhile, Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean’s fairytale run in women’s doubles came to an end after losing 2115, 21-14 to second seeds Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota of Japan in the quarter-final.