Chan Peng Soon joked the Badminton World Federation (BWF) are ‘playing tricks’ on him, after he was pitted against long-time former partner Goh Liu Ying in the first round of the Indonesia Masters taking place from June 7-12.
Chan-Goh formed a 13-year alliance on court, to which the height of their success came at the 2016 Olympics when they won a silver medal.
The upcoming clash at the Indonesia Masters would be their first time facing each other since they went separate ways at the end of last year.
Chan said he hoped this day would never come.
“Basically, I did not want to face her in the tournament because she is a good partner on and off the court. However, it seems like the BWF are playing a trick on us by putting us as opponents.
“The Indonesia Masters is just our second competition where we have both put our names down, but we ended up being drawn to face each other,” Chan told The Star.
Perhaps not surprisingly, both shuttlers are still finding their path with new partners since their split.
Goh would take to court with her new team-mate Soong Joo Ven.
Goh briefly partnered Ong Yew Sin, but decided to split with the latter looking to solidify his craft with Teo Ee Yi in the men’s doubles.
As for Chan, he already tried several partnerships since rejoining the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) this year.
He started off with Valeree Siow, then joined forces with Toh Ee Wei before being paired up with Cheah Yee See, who recently won the SEA Games silver medal with Hoo Pang Ron.
The BAM recently reshuffled their mixed doubles line-ups after the SEA Games to test out new partnerships that they hope would bear success in the long run.
