Malaysian mixed doubles pair Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon successfully claimed their first title of the year by winning the 2016 New Zealand Open Grand Prix Gold in Auckland yesterday.
The pair, whom won the 2010 Asian Championship gold medal and also were runners-up at the Thailand Masters, defeated China’s Zheng Siwei and Li Yinhui in straight sets 21-19, 22-20 within 45 minutes.
Not to mention, the triumph is a confidence booster for the duo as they are currently on a bid to secure a slot for the Rio Olympics this August.
“This is an Olympic year and it gives us great confidence for our next tournament but especially Rio. We did not have much preparation for this tournament but we analysed our opponents and tried our best to not give away easy points,” Liu Ying said after the match as quoted from Bernama.
“I made some simple mistakes but luckily we did not pay for that. They had an advantage because of their youth and speed so we had to use our experience to triumph.”
The two will be taking part in the India Open from March 29 to April 3 and Malaysian Open from April 5 to 10.
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