KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's mixed doubles Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai staged a major upset to win their first BWF World Tour Super 500 title when they clinched the Singapore Open crown on Sunday.
Soon Huat-Shevon, bound for the World Championships in Nanjing, China, next week, were at their best, scoring a superb 21-19, 21-18 win over Olympic champions and current World No 1 Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia.
The win is the Malaysian pair's first over the two-time world champions, and it came as a huge boost ahead of the world meet.
"It definitely gives us a lot of confidence heading into the world meet, but we will focus and take it one match at a time. We just want to give our best," said a delighted Shevon, who together with Soon Huat, also claimed the German Open title in March.
Soon Huat-Shevon, who have been playing together for two years, pocketed US$28,045 (RM114,000) for their heroics, while Tontowi-Liliyana - who have decided to skip the world meet, to focus on the Asian Games in Indonesia next month - settled for US$13,490 (RM55,000).
Apart from Soon Huat-Shevon, the other Malaysian mixed doubles, heading to Nanjing later this week are 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing.