Peng Soon-Liu Ying in first All England final

PETALING JAYA: Top mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying were jumping in joy after reaching their first-ever All-England final.

The sixth seed Peng Soon-Liu Ying ended the gallant run of Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan with a superb 21-17, 21-15 win in the semi-final at the Barclaycard Arena on Saturday.

They will take on China’s Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong, who fought valiantly to beat home favourites Chris Adcock-Gabrielle Adcock 19-21, 21-12, 22-20 in a tense 71-minute match in the other semi final.

On paper, the odds are against the Malaysians in the final on Sunday. They have never beaten the Chinese pair, losing three times at the 2015 Korean Open, 2015  French Open and last year’s Australian Open.

Peng Soon-Liu Ying’s best outing in the previous All-England was a semi-final finish in 2012. They lost to eventual champions Tontowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia.

Malaysia have tasted success once in the All-England mixed doubles when David Choong combined with England’s June White to win the title in 1953.

This time, Malaysia have a chance to take full credit for the victory if Peng Soon-Liu Ying defy the odds to nick it on Sunday.