Singapore: The second seeded Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai sailed through to the final of the Singapore Badminton Open after defeating the unseeded Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand 21-18, 21-14 in the semi-final of Singapore Open on Saturday.
Goh/Lai will meet the Rio Olympic champions Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia in the final.
“This means a lot to us because this is our first Singapore Open final, and we are very excited to play against Liliyana and Tontowi in the final,” said Lai.
“Liliyana and Tontowi have won almost all major title in badminton, it’s going to be a confidence booster if we could put up a good fight against the World No. 1 pair,” added Lai.
Meanwhile, Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir, who has decided to skip the World Championships in Nanjing in order to focus on the Asian Games that scheduled to be held from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang, edged past compatriots Akbar Bintang Cahyono/Winny Oktavina Kandow with a 26-24, 21-17 victory in 31 minutes.
“Goh/Lai are really good in defense, we are going to study their game and be prepared. We will definitely play our best against them,” said Liliyana Natsir.
Sunday’s final will be the first ever career meeting between the two pairs.
