PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles specialist Chan Peng Soon has vowed to keep his feet on the ground despite his delight at reaching No. 8 in the world rankings with Goh Liu Ying.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying have shown tremendous improvement since last year, reaching the semi-finals of the All-England earlier this month and the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open a week later – both times losing narrowly to world No. 3 Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia.
Those two results, however, were enough to move them up to their highest ranking ever.
It has also, more or less, guaranteed their tickets to the London Olympics come July.
Peng Soon, however, is not letting the small success get to his head, preferring instead to take things one at a time.
“It sure feels great to have reached No. 8 ... but it is still a long way from the top and we still need to work harder,” said Peng Soon.
“Our target now is to maintain our form, as our confidence is still high, and reach at least the quarter-finals of the next few tournaments.”
Peng Soon-Liu Ying will compete in the Australian Open GP Gold, which begins on April 3-8, and will face local pair Glenn Warfe-Leanne Choo in the first round.
The third-seeded pair should breeze past the unknown Aussies to set up a challenge against Hong Kong’s Wong Wai Hong-Chau Hoi Wah in the next round.
Seventh seeds Songphon Anugritayawon-Kunchala Voravichitchaikul of Thailand should be waiting for them in the last eight while a possible semi-final rematch against top seeds Tantowi-Lilyana is on the cards.
“This is a good chance for us to push further and we need to take our chances well,” said Peng Soon.
“Hopefully, well make it to the semi-finals because we are really eager to challenge the Indonesian pair once again.
“It was close the last two times we met ... but I believe we’ll come good against them soon.”
The other mixed pairs in the fray for the trip Down Under are Ong Jian Guo-Lim Yin Loo and Tan Aik Quan-Lai Pei Jing.
Both pairs, however, face seeded pairs in the first round.
THE STAR
Peng Soon-Liu Ying have shown tremendous improvement since last year, reaching the semi-finals of the All-England earlier this month and the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open a week later – both times losing narrowly to world No. 3 Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia.
Those two results, however, were enough to move them up to their highest ranking ever.
It has also, more or less, guaranteed their tickets to the London Olympics come July.
Peng Soon, however, is not letting the small success get to his head, preferring instead to take things one at a time.
“It sure feels great to have reached No. 8 ... but it is still a long way from the top and we still need to work harder,” said Peng Soon.
“Our target now is to maintain our form, as our confidence is still high, and reach at least the quarter-finals of the next few tournaments.”
Peng Soon-Liu Ying will compete in the Australian Open GP Gold, which begins on April 3-8, and will face local pair Glenn Warfe-Leanne Choo in the first round.
The third-seeded pair should breeze past the unknown Aussies to set up a challenge against Hong Kong’s Wong Wai Hong-Chau Hoi Wah in the next round.
Seventh seeds Songphon Anugritayawon-Kunchala Voravichitchaikul of Thailand should be waiting for them in the last eight while a possible semi-final rematch against top seeds Tantowi-Lilyana is on the cards.
“This is a good chance for us to push further and we need to take our chances well,” said Peng Soon.
“Hopefully, well make it to the semi-finals because we are really eager to challenge the Indonesian pair once again.
“It was close the last two times we met ... but I believe we’ll come good against them soon.”
The other mixed pairs in the fray for the trip Down Under are Ong Jian Guo-Lim Yin Loo and Tan Aik Quan-Lai Pei Jing.
Both pairs, however, face seeded pairs in the first round.
THE STAR
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