Malaysia's Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (right) were beaten by unseeded South Koreans Kim Ki-jung-Jung Kyung-eun in the first round. - IZZRAFIQ ALIAS / The Star
There was sadness all over the face of mixed doubles shuttler Goh Liu Ying yesterday as misfortune struck again in the World Championships.
A hand injury put paid to her hopes of going beyond the early rounds of the world meet for the first time with Chan Peng Soon in four attempts.
On Tuesday, world No. 5 Liu Ying-Peng Soon suffered a shock 18-21, 19-21 loss to unseeded South Koreans Kim Ki-jung-Jung Kyung-eun in 40 minutes in the second round at the Tianhe Gymnasium.
With that, they’ve failed to meet the target set by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) of a bronze medal.
With Liu Ying struggling to return her shots accurately, Peng Soon tried his best to cover for her but to no avail as the newly-paired up Koreans took their chances well to romp home.
Liu Ying, who was bugged by knee injuries in the past, was distraught.
“I did not give up although I picked up this injury during centralised training in Hong Kong. I went for a shot and landed on my hand ... and hurt the area between the thumb and index finger,” said Liu Ying.
“I did all the right things by going for treatment and taking painkillers over the last few days ... this has just happened at the wrong time.
“I tried to give my best but it turned out to be a bad game. We do not have any luck in the world meet as we’ve never managed to clear the early rounds.”
Asked if she would carry on playing in the women’s doubles with Lim Yin Loo in tomorrow’s second round, Liu Ying said: “I have come this far and I’ll do my best to play on. It’s only right to compete in the women’s doubles with Yin Loo.”
Peng Soon, meanwhile, was confident they could have beaten the Koreans “if only Liu Ying was in good condition”.
“I feel for her. She was unable to make use of her backhand return and I know that can be frustrating ... she tried,” he said.
“I tried my best to step up my game but it wasn’t easy against the Koreans. We are just unlucky.”
With their loss, Malaysia’s mixed doubles challenge is over.
Ong Jian Guo-Lim Yin Loo went down tamely 14-21, 11-21 to Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia yesterday while Tan Aik Quan-Lai Pei Jing crashed out on Monday.
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