PETALING JAYA: Veteran men’s doubles shuttler Goh V Shem proved that he still has the fire in the belly after powering into his maiden final with South Korean Choi Sol-gyu in the Indonesian Masters.
The 36-year-old V Shem, who captured silver in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics with Tan Wee Kiong, has struggled to rediscover his best form after splitting up with the latter in 2021 but seems to have found a new lease of life with Sol-gyu.
The duo swept aside Thailand’s Pharanyu Kaosamaang-Tanadon Punpanich 21-5, 21-13 in just 27 minutes in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, yesterday.
V Shem and Sol-gyu will take on homesters Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin in the final today.
The 30-year-old Korean, who won silver in the 2022 Asian Games with Kim Won-ho, combined with V Shem a year ago.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles, Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing are also keen to finally get their hands on their first title together after surviving a scare to book their spot in the final.
Jimmy-Pei Jing displayed great fighting spirit to overcome a spirited challenge from home pair Bobby Setiabudi-Melati Oktavianti and come away with a 22-20, 19-21, 21-9.
The independent duo looked in trouble when they trailed 15-20 in the first game but superbly scored seven points in a row to stun the world No. 46 Indonesians and snatch the win.
World No. 40 Jimmy-Pei Jing also recovered well after losing the second game narrowly to clinch victory.
Standing in their way to the title today are another Indonesian pair, world No. 35 and top seeds Marwan Faza-Aisyah Pranata.
Jimmy-Pei Jing are determined to go one better this time after losing all their five finals so far this year including in the Macau Open in August.
“We just focused on every single point, even though we were behind 15-20 in the first game,” said Pei Jing.
“We felt so surprised and happy when we won the first game. Overall, we are satisfied with our performance. We still have one last dance tomorrow (today).”
