FLYING START TO OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN
Peng Soon-Liu Ying win first tournament on the road to Tokyo 2020
CHAN Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying got their Olympic qualifying campaign off to a flying start when they won the New Zealand Open mixed doubles title in Auckland yesterday.
After having slogged for more than an hour and 20 minutes in an epic battle against Indonesia’s Praveen JordanMelati Daeva Oktavianti, the World No 5 sealed the tie with a 21-14, 16-21, 29-27 success.
“We expected it to be a tough match. We had tight battles against the World No 6 in the past.
“We both know each other’s game very well, so it was always going to be close,” said Peng Soon yesterday.
The New Zealand Open crown is Peng Soon-Liu Ying’s second title this season following the Thailand Masters victory in January.
“I am very happy and grateful to have come out tops today. It was a long match, but we kept our focus and got our second title this season.
“What’s more important is that we got our Olympic qualifying campaign to a great start.
“There are still many more tournaments to come, but our goal remains the same and that is to make it to the Tokyo Olympics next year,” added Peng Soon.
For their feat, Peng Soon-Liu Ying pocketed US$11,850 (RM49,000) while Praveen-Melati took home US$5,700 (RM24,000).
The pair, who were left out of the Sudirman Cup squad, will resume training
in Kuala Lumpur before heading to Sydney for the Australian Open on June 4-9. RESULTS — (All Finals)
Men’s singles: Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Angus Ng (HK) 21-12, 21-15; Doubles: Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe (Jpn) 20-22, 21-15, 21-17;
Women’s singles: Se Young An (Kor) bt Li Xuerui (Chn) 21-19, 21-15; Doubles:
Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong (Kor) bt Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn) 21-15, 21-18; Mixed doubles: Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying bt Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Ina) 21-14, 16-21, 29-27.