Mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai crashed out in their second consecutive semi-finals after Chinese pair He Ji Ting-Du Yue made light work of them at the Hong Kong Open with a 21-14, 21-18 victory on Saturday.
The 35-minute loss was a big blow for the world number eight pair, who also exited the last four of the Fuzhou China Open last week.
In the quarter-finals in Hong Kong, Goh-Lai had stormed back to beat world number four Thais Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai 16-21, 23-21, 21-12 for the second week in a row, which drew praise from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
"Soon Huat-Shevon have beaten the Thais for a second time, and that is a good signal," said BAM president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria.
That vote of confidence in the pair meant nothing, as their loss saw the Malaysian contingent once again return empty handed from a BWF World Tour tournament.
Perhaps sensing they might have placed added expectations on the national team, the BAM reduced the tally of gold medal to just one for the upcoming SEA Games in the Philippines, scheduled to begin at the end of this month.
"Since [Goh] Jin Wei, can’t make it, we have reduced the gold tally to just one.
"[Lee] Zii Jia, our men’s doubles [and] the mixed doubles are all young and they will improve with time.
"If we prepare mentally and physically, they can spring a surprise, but we do not want to put unnecessary pressure on our players," added Norza.
A total of seven golds – five in individual and two in the men and women’s categories – will be contested.
At the 2017 edition, Goh won the women’s singles gold, but the 19-year-old won’t be able to defend her title as she recovers from surgery following a stomach ailment.
Nicolas Anil
Sun Nov 17 2019
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