Decision not to quit despite missing Olympics boat pays off handsomely for Soon Huat-Shevon

All-Malaysian affair: Swiss Open mixed doubles champions Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (right) posing with their prizes after beating compatriots Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (left) in the final.

PETALING JAYA: If you don’t succeed at first, try and try again.

This is the saying that professional shuttlers Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie have taken to heart and their perseverance finally paid off when they became the first Malaysian mixed pair in 68 years to win the Swiss Open title.

Soon Huat-Shevon had to wait six years to end their title drought and they did it in style by powering past fellow Malaysians Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei 21-16, 21-13 in the final in Basel on Sunday.

The world No. 14 independent pair last stood on the highest podium in the 2018 Singapore Open and had since come close twice in the past two editions of the Swiss Open in 2022 and 2023, and in the 2019 Korean Masters only to finish runners-up.

This time there was no denying the determined duo, who controlled the match from start to finish to come away with the impressive win over world No. 9 Tang Jie-Ee Wei.

It was a remarkable achievement considering that Soon Huat, 33 and Shevon, 30 had missed the cut for the Paris Olympics and were dropped from the Road to Gold high performance programme last year.

Shevon was overjoyed after she and Soon Huat refused to give up on their careers even when their Olympic dream was shattered.

“The passion for the sport has kept us going. We both love playing and have been training for so many years,” said Shevon.

“We did not want to give up just because we didn’t make it to the Olympics. Although the Olympics is our lifelong dream, it’s not the end of our journey.”

On their title win, Shevon said: “It’s been an amazing week for both of us. After three consecutive years in the final, we have finally won the title.

“We’ve waited so long for this title and thankfully, we never gave up when things were tough.

“We were steady from the first match and supported each other no matter what happened on and off the court.”

Shevon was also pleased that she and Soon Huat managed to bring out their best performance in the final this time.

“In the final, we stayed on the attack and that gave us the advantage. We controlled our emotions much better today (Sunday).

“We didn’t put ourselves in a tight situation, we kept believing in ourselves. It’s definitely is a good confidence boost for us.”

They will compete in the Spain Masters this week and have been drawn against Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi of China in the first round.

Meanwhile, it was Tang Jie-Ee Wei’s second runners-up finish of the year after the Thailand Masters in January.

Despite the defeat, the pair also had something to cheer about after they officially qualified for their first Olympics.

Tang Jie-Ee Wei, who were only combined at the end of 2022, will be Malaysia’s sole representatives in the mixed doubles in the showpiece event.