Make us proud: Chan Peng Soon and partner Cheah Yee See (below) have been named in the squad for the Games from July 28-Aug 8.
PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttler Chan Peng Soon hopes to strike gold in his fourth Commonwealth Games.
The veteran and partner Cheah Yee See along with ninth ranked independent duo Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing are the two mixed doubles pairs named in the squad for the Games in Birmingham from July 28-Aug 8.
The individual title has so far proved elusive for Peng Soon whose best achievement was a bronze in the last edition in Gold Coast 2018 with Goh Liu Ying.
This time, the 34-year-old is hoping it will be third time lucky as Yee See will be his third partner in the Games after Liu Ying in 2010 and 2018 and Lai Pei Jing in 2014.
Peng Soon and Yee See forged a partnership at the beginning of this month and have so far played in two tournaments – the Indonesian Masters and Indonesian Open.
“I’m very happy and proud to play in my fourth Commonwealth Games. Of course I want to finally land the gold with Yee See.
“We are feeling more confident about the Games after beating England’s world No. 11 Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith in the Indonesian Open. They will be one of our main challengers along with Kian Meng-Pei Jing, who are the top seeds. We also have to be wary of India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa (No. 27) and Singapore’s Terry Hee-Tan Wei Han (No. 39),” explained Peng Soon.
Peng Soon, however, has already won two golds in the mixed team event in 2010 and 2014 and silver in 2018.
In Birmingham, they will be vying with Kian Meng-Pei Jing for the solitary spot in the mixed team event.
The others in the squad are Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles), Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles) and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles).
Currently, the shuttlers are gearing up for the Malaysian Open from June 28-July 3.
Peng Soon-Yee See have been handed a tough draw as they open their campaign against Indonesia’s 19th ranked Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas.
