Soon HuatShevon fight back to reach semis in Korea

MIXED doubles Goh Soon HuatShevon Lai Jemie saved five match points en route to toppling third seeds Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung to reach the semi-finals of the Korea Masters in dramatic fashion in Gwangju yesterday.

Soon Huat-Shevon dropped the first game and were trailing at the crucial stages of the decider before securing a 11-21, 21-13, 26-24 in 55 minutes to reach their third semi-finals in as many weeks.

The Sea Games-bound pair were trailing 18-20 in the third game when they saved two match points to level the score before going on to save three more to check into the last four.

Their biggest challenge now will be to end the semi-final jinx as this is their fifth last-four appearance this year, having reached the same stage at the All England, German, Hong Kong and China Opens.

Soon Huat-Shevon will play Taiwan’s Lee Jhe Huei-Hsu Ya Ching today.

It was the end of the road for mixed doubles fourth seeds Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying after they lost 21-17, 21-16 to unseeded Taiwanese Yang Po Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang in the quarter-finals.

Independent pair Goh V ShemTan Wee Kiong, meanwhile, stayed on track for their third title of the year after reaching the men’s doubles semi-finals.

V Shem-Wee Kiong, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics silver medallists, came from behind to beat China youngsters Di Zi JianWang Chang 16-21, 21-15, 21-16 in 53 minutes.

The Malaysians, who won the Thailand Masters in January and Taiwan Open in September, will meet South Koreans Choi So GyuSeo Seung Jae for a place in the final today.