PETALING JAYA: Veteran players Goh V Shem (pic) and Lai Pei Jing may not be lifting titles, but their hunger and fighting spirit remain undiminished against younger rivals.
Yesterday, V Shem missed out on his maiden title with South Korean Choi Sol-gyu in the Indonesian Masters after narrowly losing to homesters Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin 18-21, 21-17, 22-24 in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.
The 36-year-old V Shem and Sol-gyu, 30, were pushed all the way by Raymond (21) and Nikolaus (20) before going down in a thrilling 66-minute match.
V Shem is seeking to revive his career with Sol-gyu after splitting up with 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics silver medal winning partner Tan Wee Kiong in 2021.
Pei Jing’s wait for a first title with Jimmy Wong also continued after the duo were beaten 21-16, 19-21, 3-21 by home pair Marwan Faza-Aisyah Pranata in the mixed doubles.
Despite the defeat in their sixth final this year, Pei Jing has vowed to stay patient as she seeks to continue her encouraging performances with Jimmy.
“We were a bit lost in the deciding game. We need to discuss what went wrong and come up with ways to avoid the same again,” said the 33-year-ol Pei Jing.
“But overall we are actually super surprised and satisfied with our performance in this competition.
“We are just a bit disappointed that we are still not able to win the title but we will keep thinking positively and focus on what we need to improve.”
