KUALA LUMPUR: As they had initially feared, world No. 16 mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai suffered a shock first round exit at the Thailand Open on Tuesday.
The Malaysians, who tied the knot earlier this month, went down in three games 19-21, 21-17, 21-13 to fast-rising local duo Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat.
The defeat was Soon Huat-Shevon's first to the Thai world No. 35 in two meetings.
Earlier when contacted by Timesport, Shevon said she and Soon Huat will need to be wary of playing the up-and-coming Thai pair, despite being the tournament's third seeds.
The former Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) pair must quickly bounce back and produce better results to qualify for the season-ending World Tour Finals.
Their next assessment is the Super 500 Malaysia Masters next week.
Meanwhile, Ruttanapak-Jhenicha will play Indonesia's Adnan Maulana-Nita Violina Marwah next in the second round.