Malaysian doubles pair lose in All-England final

PETALING JAYA: Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying failed in their bid to become the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to win the All-England title.

On Sunday, they squandered a good lead in the second game before going down 21-19, 19-21, 16-21 to fifth seeds Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong of China in the final at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.

The Olympic silver medalists held a 17-13 lead in the second game but failed to go all the way to nick the match. Demoralized, they were unable to raise their game in the decider and eventually cave in to the relentless pressure from their opponents.

It was their fourth defeat to the Chinese pair. They lost three times to the China pair – in the Korean Open and French Open in 2015 and the Australian Open last year.

With their defeat, Malaysia’s wait for a All-England mixed doubles title continued.

The last time there was a Malaysian presence in the All-England mixed doubles final was when David Choong combined with England’s June White to win the title in 1953 and finish as runners-up in 1955.

Peng Soon-Liu Ying, however, can walk with their heads held high for their efforts.

Their previous best in the All-England was a semi-final finish in 2012, when they lost to eventual champions Tontowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia.