Latest news with #SoonHuat-Shevon
New Straits Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
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.
New Straits Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Soon Huat-Shevon upbeat despite Singapore Open exit
KUALA LUMPUR: Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai may have missed out on a semi-final berth at the Singapore Open, but the husband-and-wife pair were not disheartened by their improved showing following last week's early exit at the Malaysia Masters. The world No. 5 champions in 2018, were denied by Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran in a 19-21, 22-20, 21-17 quarter-final defeat on Friday. Soon Huat-Shevon were just a point away from sealing the match in straight games, having led 19-17 and held match point at 20-19 in the second. But the Thais dug deep to force a decider and eventually prevailed. "I think overall we really gave our best," said Shevon. "Though we weren't on the winning side today, both pairs pushed each other to the maximum. We made some errors at crucial points in the second game and that cost us. We'll learn from this and prepare for tougher matches ahead." Soon Huat, meanwhile, said a win was always in doubt the moment they dropped the second game, as he had been playing through an injury sustained last week. "We both knew once we lost the second game, it would be very hard to come back," he said. "I picked up an injury recently, so continuing to play at full speed and power was difficult. But we still gave it everything we had." The pair were especially glad to bounce back after a disappointing outing in Kuala Lumpur, where they crashed out in the first round as defending champions. "Last week was definitely a setback," Shevon admitted. "We were disappointed not to go further at home, but we stayed positive, and I think this week shows we're getting back on track. "I'm really proud of my partner. It's been a tough journey for him, dealing with injuries and still putting in the hard work to improve. That's not easy. We're working on regaining our consistency and stabilising our game, just like we did at the start of the year." Soon Huat-Shevon began the season strongly with back-to-back semi-finals at the Malaysia and India Opens. They are now aiming to claw their way back into the world's top three after slipping two rungs to No. 5 this week. "Everyone's fighting hard for ranking points," said Soon Huat. "It's not easy to stay at the top, but we'll focus on each tournament and try to collect as many points as we can." They now head to the Indonesia Open, a Super 1000 event, before taking a well-earned break after three consecutive weeks of competition.
New Straits Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Heartbreak for top seeds Soon Huat-Shevon in Singapore Open exit
KUALA LUMPUR: Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai's hopes of reclaiming the Singapore Open mixed doubles crown were dashed after they fell short in the quarter-finals on Friday. The world No. 5 and top seeds went down fighting to their familiar Thai rivals Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran 19-21, 22-20, 21-17 in a three-game battle at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Soon Huat-Shevon were agonisingly close to sealing the win in straight games, having led 19-17 and holding a match point at 20-19 in the second, only to let the opportunity slip as the world No. 8 Thais forced a decider. It was the seventh career meeting between the two pairs in a short span of eight months, with the Thais now edging ahead 4-3 in the head-to-head. Soon Huat-Shevon had won their last encounter and were bidding for back-to-back victories over Dechapol-Supissara for the first time. The Singapore Open has been upgraded to a Super 750 tournament since 2023 - a step up from when Soon Huat-Shevon won it in 2018, then classified as a Super 500 event.
The Star
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Tricky Thai pair gives Goh-Shevon more than a couple of worries
National mixed doubles shuttlers Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie in action against Denmark's Mads Vestergaard-Christine Busch in the first round of Malaysian Masters at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on Wednesday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie are staying grounded despite checking into the Singapore Open quarter-finals. That is because their quarter-final opponents today, Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran, have proven to be tricky customers in the past. In six previous meetings, both pairs have secured three wins each. Interestingly, the victories have alternated between them. Their most recent encounter came in the second round of the Asian Championships in Ningbo, China, last April, where Soon Huat-Shevon came out on top. If the pattern continues, it could be the Thais' turn this time. Still, records are just numbers on paper. The real battle takes place on court. For Soon Huat-Shevon, the priority now is to regain their rhythm, especially after coming through a tough second-round match yesterday. 'We'll take it one match at a time, prepare for each match. The most important thing now is we get our bodies back into condition and not have any more injuries. 'We must recover fully from the injury and also get our momentum back on court. Because previously, we lost a bit of momentum, lost a bit of rhythm. So, we're trying to get back on court, get back our rhythm together,' said Shevon in a post match interview with BWF. The husband-and-wife duo came into the tournament determined to bounce back after a disappointing outing on home ground last week, where they suffered an early exit in the first round of the Malaysian Masters. They succeeded in putting that behind them with a composed performance against scratch Chinese pair Feng Yanzhe-Wei Yaxin, prevailing 21-11, 21-19 in 34 minutes. The Chinese pair may be a scratch combination, but they are no pushovers. Yanzhe is the current world No. 1 with regular partner Huang Dongping, while Yaxin is ranked No. 2 alongside Jiang Zhenbang. Moreover Yaxin-Zhenbang were runners-up at the Malaysian Masters. Despite the threat, Soon Huat-Shevon held their nerve to deliver a solid win. For Shevon, the result was especially satisfying given her husband's recent recovery from injury. 'Actually, before we went into the match, there was still some uncertainty because our performance last week wasn't as stable and consistent as we expected. And my partner had just recovered from his injury. 'But today, I really want to give credit to him again because he's worked really, really hard to get back on court. To deliver a performance like that is not easy. 'I think we both played our parts well. Although there were some unforced errors and a few miscommunications, we managed to pull through,' added Shevon.
New Straits Times
27-05-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Soon Huat-Shevon smash into Singapore Open second round
KUALA LUMPUR: Top seeds Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai made a statement of intent at the Singapore Open with a commanding first-round win on Tuesday. Soon Huat-Shevon needed just 21 minutes to dispatch Ukraine's Oleksii Titov-Yevheniia Kantemyr 21-11, 21-8 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The world No. 5 are looking to redeem themselves following a shock first-round exit at the Malaysia Masters last week - a result that saw them slip two spots in the world rankings and lose their status as Malaysia's top mixed doubles pair to Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
