PETALING JAYA: After going 505 days without a title, mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie are determined to end their long drought with a breakthrough win at the Denmark Open.
As the eighth seeds, they made a confident start to their campaign in Odense by ousting Taiwan’s Lu Che-ming and Hung En-tzu in the first round yesterday with a 21-14, 21-17 victory.
This performance was far more convincing than when Soon Huat-Shevon last met the pair two years ago in the first round of the Australian Open, where the match went to a deciding rubber before the husband-and-wife duo prevailed.
This win also came as a relief for the pair, having suffered early exits in the first round in the past two editions of the tournament.
With the momentum and confidence they have now, Soon Huat and Shevon are hoping to finally clinch the title this time.
“Champion (our goals for this tournament), I always aim champion, but I could not make it,” said Soon Huat in post match interview with Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Sharing her husband’s view, Shevon admitted they are trying to rediscover their form after a series of disappointing outings in recent tournaments.
“We are hoping to, but recently haven’t been doing very well. So we’re trying to get back on form, on our performance, and we’ll see how that brings us.
“Hopefully further than before, but we’ll take one match at a time,” said Shevon.
Soon Huat-Shevon have been competing in the Denmark Open since 2017, skipping only the 2020 edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their best outing came in 2022 when they reached the semi-finals before losing to China’s Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong, who went on to win the title.
The last time Soon Huat-Shevon stood on the top of the podium was at the Malaysia Masters in May last year.
