SHE’S GOH IT! LIU YING AND PENG SOON MAKE WORLD TOUR FINALS
Peng Soon-Liu Ying assured of pocketing at least RM44,000
PETALING JAYA: National mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying have secured their qualification for the inaugural BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou from Dec 12-16.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying could only reach the last 16 at the Fuzhou China Open this week, but the world No. 7 had done enough to stay in the top eight of the Race to Guangzhou standings until the cut-off date on Dec 3.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying are currently placed second in the season-long World Tour rankings and could still improve their position with a good outing at the Hong Kong Open next week.
Other shuttlers still in with a chance to qualify for the lucrative US$1.5mil (RM6.28mil) meet have made the Hong Kong Open their last platform to launch last-ditch attempts.
This includes another Malaysian mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie. They may be ranked fifth at the moment but have not done themselves a favour with a first round exit in the first round in Fuzhou this week.
Except England’s Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith and Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti, the other top ranked mixed doubles pairs will not be taking part in either of the last three lower-tier tournaments of the season – Syed Modi International (Nov 21-25) in India, Scottish Open (Nov 21-25) and Korean Masters (Nov 27-Dec 2).
Peng Soon was pleased to have qualified for the season-ending event for the first time since 2013.
The last time they played in the now-defunct BWF Superseries Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Peng Soon-Liu Ying did well to reach the semi-finals.
They also qualified for the 2012 edition in Shenzhen, China but failed to get past the group stage. Men’s singles: Kento Momota (Jpn) bt Chen Long (Chn) 19-21, 2117, 21-17; Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 21-11, 21-10.
Men’s doubles: Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (Ina) bt Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan (Chn) 17-21, 21-18, 21-14.
Women’s singles: Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Carolina Marin (Spa) 11-21, 21-15, 21-13; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt He Bingjiao (Chn) 21-13, 21-13.
Women’s doubles: Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (Jpn) bt Chae Yu-jung-Kim So-yeong (Kor) 24-22, 21-16; Lee So-hee-Shin Sheung-chan (Kor) bt Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi 21-16, 21-12.
Mixed doubles: Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higano (Jpn) 21-14, 21-6; Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong bt He Jiting-Du Yue (Chn) 21-12, 21-12.
“We’re delighted and proud to be one of the top eight performing mixed doubles pairs on the World Tour. It speaks volumes,” said Peng Soon.
By just the making the World Tour Finals, Peng Soon-Liu Ying are assured of earning US$10,500 (RM44,000).
But any pair would be motivated to play for the staggering champions’ purse of US$126,000 (RM527,000).
For Peng Soon, however, he’s targeting to collect invaluable world ranking points more than anything else.
“The perks of qualifying for the Finals is that you are guaranteed of picking the world ranking points. As it’s a Grade 1 event, there are lots of points on offer and we hope to make the most of the tournament to end the season as high as possible in the world ranking,” said Peng Soon.
At the Fuzhou China Open yesterday, Kento Momota avenged his French Open semi-final defeat to China’s Chen Long last month to reach his ninth final of the season.
World No. 1 Momota prevailed 19-21, 21-17, 21-17 in a 97-minute thriller to set up a title clash with world No. 3 Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan.
Tien-chen also marched into final after silencing the Chinese fans by triumphing 21-11, 21-10 over Shi Yuqi in the other last four match.