Guangzhou: Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying will have to wait another year to try their luck at the BWF World Tour Finals.
The world No. 6 mixed doubles from Malaysia have failed in their quest to make the BWF World Tour semi-finals after losing to Japan’s 2018 All England champions Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino 9-21, 18-21 in 47 minutes on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian mixed doubles pair Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja whom Chan/Goh defeated yesterday, also went down 16-21, 13-21 to China’s Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping. This resulted with three pairs ended their Group B competition with 1 win and 2 defeats.
The Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalists Chan/Goh would need to win at least one set in the match against Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino if they would like to qualify for the semi-finals but failed to do so.
After comparing the points earned among these 3 pairs, Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino were ranked the second place in Group B with one point; Chan/Goh ranked third with zero point while the Indonesians were ranked at the bottom with negative 1 point. China’s Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping emerged as the group champions.
Another Malaysian mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai had finished the BWF World Tour Finals at the bottom of Group A after losing all three of their group stage matches.
The goal of the World’s 11th pair was to win a minimal of one match, unfortunately they lost their third consecutive Group A match to England’s Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith with 20-22, 22-20, 14-21.
Malaysia’s mixed doubles coach, Chin Eei Hui, told reporters that this was a good learning experience for Goh/Lai to understand their weaknesses especially compared to the world’s best mixed doubles pairs.
“Soon Huat and Shevon failed to play at their best in this tournament. There is a lot of work to be done in term of strengthening their skills.”
“Despite losing all the group stage matches, they at least had a reality check in comparison with other top pairs in the world.”
“They should continue to work hard to qualify for the Olympics next year.”
It was the first time Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai had qualified for the tournament that offered a total prize money of USD $1.5 million.
