PETALING JAYA: Can shuttlers Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie or Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei become the first Malaysians to reach world No. 1 in the mixed doubles?
The healthy competition between the two pairs and China’s decision to reshuffle their top two combination Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping and Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin in the All-England (March 11-16) and Swiss Open (March 18-23) could open the door for a Malaysian duo to reach the top ranking.
Currently, Soon Huat-Shevon are ranked third in the world with 79,352 points while Tang Jie-Ee Wei are just behind them in fourth place with 78,140 points.
The latter moved up to No. 3 first last month before the independent duo overtook them recently.
Soon Huat-Shevon believe that it would not be an easy task to overtake the Chinese pairs due to their consistency but are motivated by the challenge.
Previously, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying came closest to breaking into the world’s top two when they reached No. 3 in 2012.
“Trying to become the world No. 1 pair is a huge motivation for us as we never expected to even reach No. 3,” said Shevon after a training session at the Pioneer Badminton Centre in Endah Parade yesterday.
“It’s a tough challenge though as the Chinese pairs may not be splitting up for too long and could still maintain their ranking.
“The gap is also quite big between us and the top two. It’s important for us to maintain our performances and get solid results to overtake them. If we can be consistent, then it’s not impossible to improve our ranking.
“We also have a healthy competition with Tang Jie-Ee Wei which is great for us and for Malaysia. Having two mixed pairs in the world’s top five will inspire the younger generation as well,” added Shevon.
Soon Huat-Shevon have an opportunity to narrow the gap with Yanzhe-Dongping and Zhenbang-Yaxin with good showings in the All-England and Swiss tournaments.
Yanzhe is set to partner Yaxin while Zhenbang will combine with Dongping in the two events.
Soon Huat-Shevon are hoping to reach the final in Birmingham for the first time.
“Previously, our best performance in the All-England was when we made it into the last four (in 2019). It will be a great achievement for us to surpass that and get a podium finish this time,” said Shevon.
“It’s important for us to maintain our physical condition as well as the tournament calender is very packed.”
