Frustrated Shevon Lai hits back at netizens
KUALA LUMPUR: The irked wife has smashed back at some caustic citizens and invited them to partner her husband.
Shevon Lai, who is usually composed, was not amused this time, and took the drastic step to respond on social media following the scathing criticism of her and her mixed doubles partner Goh Soon Huat, who is also her husband, after their loss to Thai pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran at the Singapore Open on Friday.
World No. 5 Soon Huat-Shevon suffered an agonising 19-21, 22-20, 21-17 defeat to world No. 8 Dechapol-Supissara in the quarter-finals.
"If you guys wanna keep condemning me for not having initiative to find the shots, and feel I am letting Soon Huat run the entire court himself on purpose, please speak to @gohsoonhuat, and come train with us, I will let you feel how is it when I look for the shuttle. #fedupofthis," wrote a frustrated Shevon in her Instagram story.
"And I am more than happy to let you partner @gohsoonhuat. You take my position and see how it feels."
To be fair to Shevon-Soon Huat, it has always been a close tussle between them and Dechapol-Supissara, who have established themselves as one of the world's top pairs since starting their partnership last October.
Dechapol, world champion in 2021 and former world No. 1 with his previous partner. Sapsiree Taerattanachai, has achieved considerable success with Supissara. The duo have won four World Tour titles including the Malaysia Open in January.
Soon Huat-Shevon trail closely, 3-4 in thier head-to-head meetings following the defeat in Singapore.
Despite their advancing age, the 35-year-old Soon Huat and the 32-year-old Shevon have been the most consistent Malaysian pair on the World Tour, reaching the quarter-final stage or beyond in eight of their last nine tournaments.
However, they suffered a rare first round defeat in the Malaysia Masters last week with Soon Huat carrying a leg injury prior to the tournament.
Soon Huat-Shevon will play in the Super 1000 Indonesia Open starting on Tuesday, where they could meet Dechapol-Supissara in a second round clash. And they hope fans won't be too judgemental.
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