PETALING JAYA: The real test for mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie at the Arctic Open begins today when they take on their familiar rivals Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran in the quarter-finals.
Soon Huat-Shevon, who had a first round bye, had little trouble advancing to the quarter-finals after pulling off a commanding 21-2, 21-5 victory in just 19 minutes against Italy-England’s mixed pair Innocenzo Santoro-Karen Feng yesterday.
Dechapol-Supissara, meanwhile, were made to work hard before overcoming Czech Republic’s Ondrej Kral-Tereza Svabikova 21-15, 21-16.
It is an ironic twist, as their rivalry first began at the same tournament last year when they met in the second round, with Soon Huat-Shevon emerging victorious on that occasion.
A few weeks later, however, the Thai duo avenged their defeat at the Kumamoto Masters in Japan.
Today’s clash will mark their seventh meeting this year, and interestingly, both pairs have taken turns winning their encounters, except at the Singapore and Indonesia Opens where Dechapol-Supissara broke the pattern by winning back-to-back matches.
For Soon Huat-Shevon, a strong showing in this tournament is crucial after a string of disappointing outings that have affected their world ranking.
As part of the elite Road to Gold (RTG) programme, it is vital for them to remain within the top 10 by the end of the year to avoid being dropped from the initiative.
Another Malaysian pair in action in today’s Arctic Open quarter-finals are women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, who will take on either France’s Margot Lambert-Camille Pognante or Taiwan’s Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhih-yun for a place in the semi-finals.
Earlier, they had defeated Indonesia’s Febriana Kusuma-Meilysa Puspitasari 21-15, 21-13 in the second round.
