No more mix-up
Peng Soon-Liu Ying target home title as they put European disaster behind
INDEPENDENT mixed doubles shuttlers Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying plan to put their Europeanstint disaster behind by bringing home the Celcom Axiata Malaysian Open mixed doubles title.
And the world No. 5 pair showed they are on the right track when they pulled off a resounding 21-13, 21-14 victory over Indonesia’s Ricky Karandasuwardi-Pia Zebadiah Bernadet to reach the quarter-finals at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying play China’s world No. 2 pair Wang YilyuHuang Dongping today for a place in the semi-finals.
After a tough campaign in Europe which saw them lose in the first round of the German Open and second round of the AllEngland last month, the pair seem to have regained their form.
“Yes this is a better outing than in Europe, everything looks good and better now for us,” said Peng Soon.
“The Indonesians are only playing in their second tournament together, so they are still new and we managed to find some loopholes in their game.”
As the nation’s No. 1 pair, hope is on the 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medallists to bring home the title - and the duo promised to duly deliver.
“There is no pressure (to bring home the title), because we understand that this is the responsibility we have to carry and we’re just happy to represent the country,” said Liu Ying.
“Its going to be tough against the China pair but we have the homecrowd advantage. We’ve a 2-1 lead in the head-to-head against them but we lost the last match, so we’ve to be prepared.”
Joining Peng Soon-Liu Ying into the last eight are their former national teammates Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who showed their strong will to come back from a game down to beat India’s C. Pranaav Jerry-R. N. Sikki 15-21, 21-17, 21-13.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing looked like they were well on their way out as they trailed 12-17 in the second game but the pair showed just how good they can be when they won the next nine points to clinch the game, before going on to win the third with ease.
“I had hopes of playing well but that only added pressure on me in the first game,” said Pei Jing.
“But I started to feel more confident in the second and third game. At 12-17, I was just really focused on what I had to do and the points slowly came in our favour.”
Kian Meng-Pei Jing’s next task is against Olympic champion Tontowi Ahmad and his new partner Winny Oktavina Kandow.
Tontowi has won the Olympic gold medal and two world titles with his long-time partner Liliyana Natsir, who hanged up her racquet in January.
Meanwhile, Goh Soon HuatShevon Lai Jemie were forced to concede a walkover in the second round as Soon Huat suffered a dizzy spell after their morning training session yesterday.
He was asked to rest for the next few days - and the withdrawal has raised questions over Soon HuatShevon’s participation in the Singapore Open next week, where they are the defending champions.