KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie are set to begin training at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in preparation for the 2024 Asia Mixed Team Badminton Championships in Qingdao, China from Feb 11-16.
The husband-and-wife duo are the only professional players selected by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to represent the country in the meet.
National mixed doubles head coach Nova Widianto confirmed that Soon Huat-Shevon will first focus on physical conditioning before transitioning to on-court training.
"I’ve been informed by physical coach Tommy Pang that they will start their physical training today.
"On-court training is scheduled to begin on Thursday (Feb 6)," Nova said on Tuesday (Feb 4).
Soon Huat-Shevon's return to the championships is their first in eight years, their last appearance being in the 2017 edition in Ho Chi Minh.
In addition to Shevon and Soon Huat, another mixed doubles pair strengthening the national squad for the tournament is Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin.
Malaysia have been drawn into Group B alongside Indonesia and Hong Kong.