16 Jan No Surprises as Big Guns Progress

The top three national mixed doubles pairs march into the Perodua Malaysia Masters 2018 (PMM2018) presented by Daihatsu Round 2 with no fuss earlier today at the Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur Sports City earlier today.

Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai were first to book their slot in Round 2 of PMM2018. The pair easily dispatched opponents, Jacco Arends and Selena Piek from Netherlands 21-17, 21-17.

Fresh off their success in Thailand, Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying proved unstoppable at the moment as they easily overcame France’s Bastian Kersaudy and Lea Palermo 21-11, 21-17.

Defending champions, Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing however faced a tougher task as they had to dig deep to defeat the Danish pair of Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt 11-21 21-16 21-14.

Mixed doubles pair of Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai of Malaysia booked their slot to the next round of the Perodua Malaysia Masters 2018 with a 21-17, 21-17 win over Netherlands pair, Jacco Arends-Selena Piek.

“We were a little nervous as it was our first game of the tournament. It did not go as planned in the first set as we made many mistakes. In the second set, I told Kian Meng to take one point at a time and we managed to regain our momentum. I was a little disappointed to drop the first set. We wanted to do well for our fans,” said Pei Jing.

“We will be facing tougher opponents as we progress further. We are focusing fully on defending our title, just taking it one game at a time,” added the 25-year old.

Kian Meng extended his appreciation towards the fans for spurring them on and added that the key to their come-from-behind win today was due to their determination and never-say-die attitude.

“We will face either the Thai pair (Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Puttita Supajirakul) or our juniors (Chen Tang Jie and Cheah Yee See) in our next match. On paper, the Thais are the favourites but I hope our juniors can give them a good fight in front of the home crowd,” said Kian Meng.

Perodua Malaysia Masters 2018 Results (16 January 2018)

Mixed Doubles Round 1:
Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (MAS) bt Bastian Kersaudy-Lea Palermo (FRA) 21-11 21-17
Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (MAS) bt Anders Skaarup Rasmussen-Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt (DEN) 11-21 21-16 21-14

Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai (MAS) bt Jacco Arends-Selena Piek (NED) 21-17 21-17
K. Yogendran (MAS) – Prakjata Sawant (IND) bt Sawan Serasinghe-Setyana Mapasa (Walkover)