Soon Huat-Shevon out to end last-eight jinx at Indian Open


Power couple: Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie beat Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi 21-10, 19-21, 21-16 in the second round yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie are determined to achieve their best ever result at the Indian Open, with hopes of securing a podium finish after falling short on home soil at the Malaysian Open last week.

And the husband-wife pair are set to do just that after storming into the quarter-finals, beating Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi 21-10, 19-21, 21-16 in the second round yesterday.

Today, the Malaysian pair will have a chance to break the quarter-final curse when they face Taiwan’s Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang. Encouragingly, Soon Huat-Shevon have emerged victorious in all four of their previous encounters against the Taiwanese pair.

“Definitely, we would love to go further, as the quarter-finals have been the farthest we’ve reached at the Indian Open. Going one step further would be an extra bonus for us,” said Shevon in a post match interview with Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Soon Huat-Shevon, seeded fourth in the tournament, first made their debut at the Indian Open in 2018 but saw their campaign end in the quarter-finals against China’s He Jiting-Du Yue.

They skipped the 2019 edition, while the tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, their comeback ended with a first-round exit to China’s top duo Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong. Last year, the quarter-finals proved a stumbling block again as they fell to Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin.

“If we manage to secure a podium finish, it would be our first for this year, and I believe it would serve as a great motivation for us to carry through the rest of the season,” said Shevon.

Cheng Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei are also setting their sights on a deeper run as they joined their compatriots in the quarter-finals after edging newly crowned Malaysian Open champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran, 19-21, 21-12, 22-20, yesterday.

However, the duo admitted that they need to stay composed and sharpen their game if they hope to progress further. They will take on another Thai pair, Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat, in their last-eight clash today.

“I always remind myself not to focus too much on trying to score points or executing strokes perfectly. The priority is to ensure the shuttle lands inside the opponent’s court, and eventually, we managed to achieve that.

“I think this is something Tang Jie and I still need to work on.

“Even when the opponents are leading, we must keep our emotions in check and fight for every point until the very end,” said Ee Wei.

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