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KUALA LUMPUR – “My journey as a badminton player would be incomplete without Chan Peng Soon and thank you for everything.”
That was an unfeigned reaction from Goh Liu Ying, who was Peng Soon’s former mixed doubles partner, following their separation on Monday night.
Liu Ying said Peng Soon was her backbone in badminton for the past 13 years and described the latter as the best partner she had ever played with in the court.
“I feel everybody has the right to choose their own path − I respected his decision while he respected mine.
“It was really hard for me to part ways with him, but I believe every journey has an end and perhaps this end game is good for us,” she told Bernama when contacted yesterday.
Peng Soon re-joined BAM earlier yesterday − merely a day after he split up with Liu Ying.
BAM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria in a statement said after thorough deliberation, they reached the decision to absorb the accomplished 33-year-old shuttler with the objective of strengthening the mixed doubles department and implementing a mentoring role for the youthful national squad.
Asked on her next move, the 32-year-old shuttler said she wanted to take a break for at least two months before deciding on her next journey.
As a professional player, Liu Ying admitted that it would be difficult for her to search for sponsorship and a new partner should she decide to return to the court soon as there was a lack of shuttlers at the moment.
“It’s not easy to find a new partner − we are not like an association in which you can decide to let a junior player be your new partner,” she added.
Meanwhile, she believed that Peng Soon will be a good role model to the juniors − either as a player or a coach − in Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
Apart from sharing a wonderful feat in Rio 2016 in which they bagged home the silver medal, Liu Ying pointed out that seeing Peng Soon evolve from a single person to a dad was something that she will always cherish.
“Peng Soon would often get emotional every time we played on the court, and I also would have to control my emotions even though he is a good dad and husband outside the court,” she said.
On Monday night, Peng Soon − in a heartfelt Instagram post − said that it was difficult for them to make the decision to break up for good.
Earlier on Monday, Liu Ying said in a Facebook post that they had pulled out from the BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Championships 2021 competition just six days before it kicked off in Huelva, Spain − citing age, fitness and the increase in Covid-19 cases worldwide as the main reason for throwing in the towel.
The withdrawal of the professional duo meant that the BWF World Tour Finals 2021 was their final tournament as a pair after losing to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai 8-21, 18-21 in the semi-finals.
Besides their success in Rio 2016, Peng Soon-Liu Ying had clinched 12 titles, including the gold medal for the mixed team event in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and the mixed doubles bronze medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast along with their highest-ranking ever in 2013 as world number three. – Bernama, December 8, 2021
