The recent postponement of the 2021 Indian Open due to a spike in Covid-19 cases has further complicated Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai’s mission to get a ticket to the Japanese capital city.
KUALA LUMPUR: With less than three months to go before the Tokyo Olympics, the clock is ticking for independent mixed doubles shuttlers Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jamie to qualify for the world’s biggest sporting event.
The recent postponement of the 2021 Indian Open due to a spike in Covid-19 cases has further complicated Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai’s mission to get a ticket to the Japanese capital city.
Despite the narrowing window of opportunity, Shevon, 28, said they remain optimistic and have set their sights on the upcoming Malaysia Open and Singapore Open to book their slot in Tokyo.
“We have no choice but to collect as many points as we can in both the Malaysia Open and Singapore Open. At the very least, we must reach the semi-final or final to secure our chances to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” she told Bernama recently.
The Malaysia Open will be held from May 25-30 while the Singapore Open, from June 1-6.
Soon Huat-Shevon have endured a bumpy ride in 2021, with their best achievement being a last-four appearance at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals 2020 in Thailand last January where they lost to South Koreans Seo Seung Jae-Chae YuJung 19-21, 8-21.
Based on BWF’s latest rankings, world number 12 Soon Huat-Shevon have collected 61,822 points while 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying are ranked seventh on 70,420 points. Another Malaysian pair, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, are at 11th place on 62,770 points.
Each country is allowed to have two representatives in the Olympics if they are in the top eight at the end of the qualifying round.
Asked if this will be the end of the road for them should they fail to qualify for Tokyo, Soon Huat, 31, vowed to fight on.
“We won’t feel any regrets if we could not make it to Tokyo because we know that we’ve done our best. If we fail, we will continue and try to get to Paris (Olympics) in 2024,” said Soon Huat.
Shevon believes that if they can keep up the momentum and receive enough funding, they will have a better chance to qualify for Paris 2024.
Tokyo Olympics is slated to be held from July 23 to August 8.
