Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh need to prove their worth in Indonesia Open, says Jeremy Gan
Malaysia’s Mixed Doubles national coach Jeremy Gan said that its time for the country’s top seeds Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh to prove their craft at the Indonesia Open Premier Super Series 2012, which is in progress at Jakarta, Indonesia.
The coach is satisfied with impressive performance that Peng Soon and Liu Ying have been delivering for the last six months. However, he believes that the real test of the couple is in Indonesia Open where all top shuttlers in the world are competing.
The Olympic bound Peng Soon and Liu Ying, who have been positioned at number eight in Mixed Doubles world rankings, reached in the semi-finals of Malaysia Open Super Series and All England Open Super Series earlier this year.
In the Australia Open Grand Prix Gold, the Malaysian duo reached in the final in April. After that, they proved their worth on home soil when they secured Mixed Doubles title at the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold.
Nevertheless, Jeremy believes that they need to put in extra effort and the Indonesia Open will serve as a good test for Peng Soon and Liu Ying to prove their mettle and gain confidence ahead of Olympic Games.
The coach said, “The Jakarta tournament and the Singapore Open (June 19-24) are the last two competitions before the Olympics and are a crucial part of our preparations. There will be no pressure on Peng Soon-Liu Ying because I just want them to go out there,
play well and get the tournament feeling once again.”
He further added, “It’s been more than a month since they last saw action. All this while they’ve been doing intense physical training on court. I want to see how they measure up against the top pairs.”
In the opening round of Indonesia Open, Peng Soon and Liu Ying will be up against the local opponents Debby Susanto and Mohd Rijal.
The Indonesian shuttlers have a clear upper hand as they have won the previous both head-to-head meetings against Peng Soon and Liu Ying.
If the Malaysians remain successful in crossing their first round hurdle, then they are expected to face the World Number 9 Saralee Thoungthongkam and Sudket Prapakamol of Thailand.
According to the coach, a good performance at Indonesia Open will definitely boost the confidence of Peng Soon and Liu Ying which will help them to play better badminton in Olympic Games.
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