PETALING JAYA: No pain, no gain – and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie are taking that mantra seriously.
The seasoned mixed doubles pair have given up some of their favourite food and made significant lifestyle changes in recent months to ensure they are in the best possible shape for the World Championships, which begin on Monday in New Delhi.
The duo arrived in India yesterday as Malaysia’s most experienced mixed doubles pair following the withdrawal of defending champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
Ee Wei is recovering from a knee injury after undergoing surgery and is currently undergoing rehabilitation in Melbourne.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei’s place has been taken by another professional pair, Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien.
Shevon, who turned 33 last week, even kept her birthday celebration simple as she remained focused on the world meet.
“August is my special month. I have done a lot of preparation coming here and made major lifestyle changes too, so hopefully the stars will align and things will fall into place for us in New Delhi,” said Shevon.
“Soon Huat and I have tried to adopt a stricter athlete lifestyle by improving our diet, rest, training and recovery,”
Ranked 11th in the world, the pair know their opponents are younger and stronger, but Shevon hopes they can keep pace with the top combinations.
“Every tournament is special to us because we know we don’t have many more years left in this journey, but the world meet offers something special that will last a lifetime – the chance to become world champions,” said Shevon.
“I think winning a medal would be the best achievement by far.
“Even without our fellow Malaysians in the draw, there are still quite a number of strong pairs, so it will still be an uphill battle for the title,” she said.
Soon Huat-Shevon have received a first-round bye and will likely take on South Korea’s Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong in the second round.
They are in the same quarter as top seeds Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping and eighth seeds Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi of China, as well as Japan’s 16th seeds Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi.
With coach Teo Kok Siang set to join the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) next month, the professionals are now training under Ameer Amir Zainuddin.
But Shevon said adapting to the coaching change had not been an issue.
“We are settling in fine because Ameer has already been with the team for quite some time, so I think most of us have adapted.
“Besides, it’s nothing new for Soon Huat and me to work under a new coach as we went through similar changes during our time with BAM and later as independent players.
“But of course, it is a little tougher as independent players because we have to be ready to deal with any unforeseen circumstances.”
Ameer trains the mixed doubles pairs, while Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari handles men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who are also in New Delhi for the worlds.
