Next two meets will be testing ground for Liu YingPeng Soon
ULU KINTA: Chan Peng Soon will resume his mixed doubles partnership with Goh Liu Ying at the back-to-back German Open and All-England next month.
But Peng Soon is not expecting any out-of-this world results.
The second-tier German Open starts in Mulheim on March 1 and it will be followed by the Superseries season opener at the All-England in Birmingham from March 7-12.
The Rio Olympic silver medallists have not played together for four months due to Liu Ying’s recurring knee injury.
“The German Open will be our testing ground. It’s our first international tournament this season. It’ll give us an indication on Liu Ying’s form,” said Peng Soon.
The world No. 7 are seeded second and will likely take on China’s Zhang Nan-Li Yinhui in the quarter-finals.
“If all goes well in Germany, we want to step
it up at the All-England. The draw is tough but that’s expected.
“Hopefully we can play like how we did at the Olympics. We were so focused then that we even defeated top Chinese pair (Xu ChenMa Jin in the semi-finals),” said Peng Soon.
At the All-England, Peng Soon-Liu Ying are tipped to meet Zhang Nan-Li Yinhui of China in the second round. If they win, top seeds and
World Superseries Finals champions Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen of China await them.
For now, Peng Soon is enjoying his pairing with Chow Mei Kuan in the National Championships in Ulu Kinta, Perak.
Yesterday, Peng Soon-Mei Kuan outplayed Muhd Syawal Mohd Ismail-Desiree Siow Hao Shan 21-10, 21-10 to set up a semi-final clash with top seeds Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing.