Bogey pair: Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie lost to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran 18-21, 10-21 in the Swiss Open quarter-finals.
KUALA LUMPUR: The mixed doubles rivalry between Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran has followed a familiar pattern, like a see-saw trend.
Soon Huat-Shevon’s title defence at the Swiss Open came to an end after they fell 18-21, 10-21 to Dechapol-Supissara in the quarter-finals in Basel on Friday.
Since their first meeting late last year, their encounters have taken on an alternating trend, with Soon Huat-Shevon winning one match and losing the next.
It began at the Arctic Open in October, where the Malaysian pair triumphed in the second round, only for the Thais to exact revenge in the Kumamoto Masters semi-finals a month later.
The trend continued when Soon Huat-Shevon edged them in the first round of the All-England last week, only to suffer defeat again a week later in Basel.
However, Shevon admitted that their performance this time was not at its best, which contributed to their latest setback.
“Today (Friday), our game play was not at its best, especially in terms of tempo and speed. That allowed our opponents to dominate most of the match,” said Shevon.
“It is disappointing that we could not defend the title we won last year. But this is sports, there will always be winners and losers, and we have to accept that.
“For me, we just need to look ahead and focus on what’s next. What’s important now is to analyse what can be improved to enhance our performance,” said Shevon.
Although their Swiss Open campaign has come to an end, the world No. 3 pair can still take pride in their impressive consistency across the five World Tour tournaments they have competed in so far this season.
They reached the semi-finals at the Malaysian Open and Indian Open, followed by a quarter-final finish at the Indonesia Masters in January.
Last week, they made it to the quarter-finals of the All-England as well.
This steady run of performances serves as a confidence booster for the husband and wife duo as they prepare for the Asian Championships in Ningbo, China, from April 8-13.
