Stellar performance: Goh Soon Huat (right) and Shevon Lai Jemie beat China’s Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin in the quarter-finals of the China Open yesterday.
PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttlers Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie were thrilled to break through a huge psychological barrier to reach the semi-finals of the China Open.
Soon Huat-Shevon ended their five-match winless streak over world No. 2 and home favourites Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin with a stunning 23-21, 21-16 win at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Changzhou yesterday.
The world No. 12 were 16-19 behind in the first game but showed great fighting spirit and determination to come back and snatch the win.
Shevon said that their superior court control in tricky conditions was key to ending their losing streak against Zhenbang-Yaxin.
“This was a mental battle for me. I knew I had to conquer my fear, especially since we had never beaten them before,” said Shevon in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“The draught in the stadium was strong and it limited us from attacking in certain areas of the court but we managed to use it to our advantage.
“After clawing back in the first game, our confidence increased.
“We were down 19-16 but we fought point by point, staying patient.
“Once we drew level, we started bringing out our own game.”
Soon Huat-Shevon are now just one win away from reaching their biggest tournament final.
The pair have never reached a final in a tournament rated above Super 500.
Standing in their way to the final is another home duo, world No. 22 Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi.
Based on their head-to-head records, the Chinese pair have a slight advantage over Soon Huat-Shevon as they have beaten the Malaysians twice in their past three meetings.
The independent pair’s sole victory over Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi came in the Indian Open in January while the Chinese duo came out on top in the Spain Masters in March and Japan Open last month.
Soon Huat-Shevon, though, now have an opportunity to get revenge over their opponents and make it into their third final this year.
The pair captured the Swiss Open in March and Malaysian Masters in May.
Meanwhile, it was the end of the road for Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin, who went down 14-21, 9-21 to Indonesia’s Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emmanuelle.
