dddaTough encounter: Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See will play Taiwan’s world No. 35 Chang Ko-chi-Lee Chih-chen in the opening round.
PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttler Chan Peng Soon is eyeing a memorable outing in his last Malaysian Open.
The 35-year-old has stated his intention to retire this year and will get the opportunity to play in the prestigious home Open from Jan 9-14 in Bukit Jalil.
Peng Soon and his partner Cheah Yee See, who are ranked No. 41 in the world, made the cut for the competition after they were promoted from the reserve list.
“I’m happy that I will get to play one more time in the Malaysian Open,” said Peng Soon.
“I want to enjoy playing here and I hope to do my best for our Malaysian fans.”
Peng Soon-Yee See will play Taiwan’s world No. 35 Chang Ko-chi-Lee Chih-chen in the opening round.
A win could pit them against either China’s world No. 5 Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin or Denmark’s world No. 10 Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje in the second round.
Peng Soon’s best achievement in the tournament was finishing runners-up twice with former partner Goh Liu Ying in 2013 and 2016.
Peng Soon had played with Liu Ying for one last time in the tourney last year before the latter made an emotional exit from the sport.
The pair had lost in three games in the first round to Indonesia’s world No. 19 Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying’s career highlight was winning silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The former had reunited with Yee See after Liu Ying’s retirement and the duo’s best result was capturing the World Tour Super 100 KL Masters in Titiwangsa last month.
Prior to that, Peng Soon-Yee See had struggled in higher tier World Tour events and face a tough challenge in the Malaysian Open where all the world’s top 10 players will be competing.
Meanwhile, the other home representatives in the mixed doubles will be national No. 1 Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and independent pairs Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing.
