Bangkok: The World No. 7 mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying joined other Malaysian independent players including Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi & Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong to advance to the quarter-finals of YONEX Thailand Open.
The fifth-seeded Chan/Goh defeated Robin Tabeling/Selena Piek of the Netherlands in straight sets 21-18, 21-13 in the second round and will meet Thailand’s No. 1 seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai on Friday.
After the second-round match, Chan and Goh said their performance was better than expected, but they were still not at 100% yet.
“We have not played in any tournaments for too long, and we kept reminding each other on the court to get excited. Currently, we are only at 70% to 80%, and hopefully, we can continue to do better,” said Goh.
Speaking about battling the No. 1 seeds from Thai in the quarter-finals, Goh told reporters that they will get ready for the match.
“We are very familiar with each other. Although there are no spectators in this tournament, the Thai team is still having a home-court advantage. Therefore, we will be fully prepared for the quarter-final match,” added Goh.
Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai, on the other hand, came back from losing the first set to beat Malaysia’s Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai 20-22, 21-18, 21-12. Goh was seen to commit a lot of unforced errors in the decider as the Thai pair continued to widen their leads to eventually claiming the victory.
Malaysia’s other mixed doubles pair, Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing, however, lost to World No. 15 Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue of France 16-21, 15-21.
In addition to Chan/Goh, Malaysia has three men’s doubles pairs that made the last eight. The World No. 15 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi outlasted Phillip Chew/Ryan Chew of USA 21-12, 21-7 to meet No. 6 seeds Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan next.
Another independent men’s pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong needed 39 minutes to see off Ben Lane/Sean Vendy of England 21-11, 21-19. Goh/Tan will take on compatriots Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin on Friday.
