PETALING JAYA: Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie have broken one Chinese barrier, but an even bigger one now stands in their way at the China Masters.
A long-awaited win over Chinese opposition, however, has given the mixed doubles pair a timely confidence boost ahead of their semi-final against world No. 1 Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping today.
Soon Huat-Shevon finally got the better of a Chinese pair this year after brushing aside Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying 21-15, 21-11 in the quarter-finals yesterday.
It was a welcome breakthrough for the Malaysians, who had lost all five matches against four different Chinese pairs this year, including to Zhang Chi-Cheng Xing at the World Championships in New Delhi two weeks ago.
“Actually, we did not expect to come this far because looking at the draw, it was not easy. I would say it was quite a tough draw,” said Shevon in a post-match interview with BWF.
“We have not really managed to get our performances back to the level we wanted since last year and we have been struggling with our form for quite a while.
“I think today (yesterday) we really managed to regain that confidence and momentum. We did really well and hopefully we can hold on to that for much longer.’’
Their task, however, will get even tougher against Yanzhe-Dongping, who hold the upper hand after winning all five of their previous meetings.
Their most recent clash came at the Indian Open in January, where the Chinese pair again came out on top.
Shevon knows they will have to find a way past opponents who have troubled them in the past if they are to become more consistent at the highest level.
“Hopefully, yes, because there are still some opponents that we have not managed to overcome and sometimes it also depends on the draw.
“If we meet those opponents who have been a challenge for us, we need to overcome them and not depend on the draw to do well.
“If we can do that and improve in that area, I think it will give us more of an edge in the upcoming tournaments.
“But so far, this tournament has definitely given us more confidence and good motivation moving into the coming months,” added Shevon.
Malaysia could yet have an all-Malaysian final with Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing also in action in the semi-finals today against another home pair, Zhu Yijun-Li Qian.
Pang Ron-Pei Jing booked their place in the last four after beating Taiwan’s Liu Kuang-heng-Hsu Yin-hui 24-22, 21-5 yesterday. They are now chasing their first final together since joining forces in May.
“We can see some improvement in this tournament, but the hardest thing is maintaining it.
“We need to learn how to do that. We still have another match, so we do not want to think too far ahead. We will take it match by match,” said Pang Ron.
