KUALA LUMPUR – Promising teen shuttler Valeree Siow has been named as Chan Peng Soon’s new mixed doubles partner and the pair will make their debut at the India Open 2022 in New Delhi from Jan 11-16.
“As of now, yes, Valeree will be my new partner and the India Open 2022 will be our first tournament as a mixed doubles pair.
“As per the discussion with BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia) coaching director Wong Choong Hann recently, we have decided to give it a go with Valeree and I hope we can form a good partnership,” he said.
On Monday (December 6), Peng Soon announced that he and Goh Liu Ying had decided to part ways after a 13-year partnership. The highlight of the pair’s long partnership was winning the mixed doubles silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Asked why Valeree was ‘the chosen one’, Peng Soon said the 19-year-old Perak-born player is hugely talented and has great potential to be a successful shuttler.
On his target for the India Open, the 33-year-old Peng Soon said they have not set any as they intend to use the tournament as an ‘experiment’ to test their partnership.
“I haven’t trained with Valeree yet as I’m still undergoing quarantine after returning home from Bali, Indonesia, last Monday. I hope this new journey will take us far, but I believe it will be quite some time before we can forge an understanding on court,” he added.
The right-handed Valeree, who previously partnered Low Yeen Yuan in women’s doubles, has enjoyed a successful season, so far, having clinched three titles in Europe – the Slovenia International 2021, Latvia International 2021 and Hellas International 2021 in Greece.
Peng Soon, who left BAM together with Liu Ying in 2018, returned to BAM’s fold on Tuesday (December 7) and will report for duty on January 1, 2022.
Peng Soon and Liu Ying’s final outing as a pair ended with them losing 8-21, 18-21 to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Finals 2021 in Bali last week.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying, whose highest-ever world ranking was number three in 2013, had also clinched 12 titles as well as the gold medal for the mixed team event in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and mixed doubles bronze medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. – Bernama, December 10, 2021
