Kuala Lumpur: Even though Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia are sitting comfortably in the seventh spot of the BWF Race to Tokyo Games ranking, but it’s much too soon to say whether Chan/Goh could make the cut for Tokyo Olympics, as Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jamie Lai and Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing were within the qualifying distance as they were ranked No. 11 and No. 13 respectively.
The most important thing for Chan as he and Goh are about to resume their training, was to make sure they could produce high-quality games consistently. The Rio Olympics silver medalists were invited by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) for joint training with the Malaysian national team starting July 15. That was seen as a good gesture from BAM to provide a win-win situation for both sides in preparation for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Speaking to Malaysian media, Chan was upbeat about the opportunity to train with the BAM players.
“I was informed that we will be training twice a week at the Academy Badminton Malaysia starting July 15,” said Chan.
“Going back to train at BAM would create a win-win situation for us and players from BAM, and we could spar with some good mixed doubles pairs at BAM, and they could learn from us through our personal experience,” added Chan.
After Malaysia has loosened its quarantine measures through the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), Chan and Goh have been playing some tennis at an outdoor tennis court.
“Being able to play tennis was great because it helped me move back and forth after not able to do so for so long due to the Movement Control Order,” explained Chan.
