SINGAPORE, July 21 — “Their defence is very strong” (Pertahanan mereka cukup kuat), described Indonesian mixed-doubles pair on their Malaysian opponents Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai who will be their opponents in the finals of the Singapore Badminton Open tournament tomorrow.
“We will study their game. We will be more prepared. We will give our maximum effort,” Liliyana Natsir told reporters after winning over compatriots Akbar Bintang Cahyono-Winny Oktavina Kandow at the semi-finals today.
Earlier, the Malaysian duo defeated Thai Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai in 40 minutes in straight games 21-18, 21-14.
The finals which is held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium will see the second seeded pair meeting the Indonesian duo for the first time whereby the latter (Indonesia) have won three times in the Singapore Open over four participations.
It seemed the national number two had expected that they would be meeting the first seeded pair of Liliyana and Tontowi Ahmad in the finals.
“It means a lot to us because this is our first finals, and I think our next opponent might be Liliyana and Tontowi, and we’re very excited to have a match with them,” said Shevon before the start of the game.
Commenting on their own performance at the semis, Shevon said: “We did very well for the game just now, and I think we really did our best.
“This is the 5th or 6th time we played against them (Thai). I think we are really clear about each other’s game and I think we did well today on court. Our performance was solid today,” she said.
Looking back on their journey at the tournament, Soon Huat-Shevon sailed through the quarter-finals after winning over Xiangyu Ren-Tang Jinhua from China before crushing Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari of Indonesia for the semis.
The championship which offers a total prize money of US$355,000 (US$1=RM4.055) ends tomorrow. — Bernama
