KUALA LUMPUR – National professional mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie booked a quarter-final slot in the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) in the United Arab Emirates after defeating China’s Chen Xing-Cheng Fang Hui today.
The world number eight pair bounced back from a first-game loss to down the world number 51 combination from China 12-21, 22-20, 21-15 in a 56-minute battle at the Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Indoor Hall at Al Nasr Club in Dubai.
The win allowed Soon Huat-Shevon to make amends for their second-round exit in last year’s edition in Manila.
The eighth-seeded Soon Huat-Shevon will meet Indonesia’s world number 14 Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari, who advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito 21-12, 16-21, 21-13 in another second round action.
However, national mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei failed to reach the quarter-finals after losing 21-23, 21-18, 15-21 to former All-England champions Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia.
Meanwhile, national men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, ranked 28th in the world, withdrew from the competition after trailing 14-21, 3-11 against world number four Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan.
The decision was made after Kai Wun suffered an ankle injury. – Bernama, April 27, 2023
