KUALA LUMPUR: Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai continued their impressive run on the World Tour by advancing to the mixed doubles second round of the Arctic Open yesterday.
The world No. 10 Malaysians secured a 21-14, 21-16 victory over the Czech Republic's Ondrej Kral-Tereza Svabikova in just 34 minutes at the Vantaan Energy Arena in Vantaa, Finland.
Soon Huat-Shevon arrived at the Arctic Open fresh from their runners-up finish at the China Open in what has been a stellar season for them.
The pair also clinched the Swiss Open and thrilled the home crowd with a triumph at the Malaysia Masters earlier this year.
These victories have propelled the duo up the world rankings from 15th at the start of the year to their current position at No. 10.
In the next round, Soon Huat-Shevon will take on Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran tomorrow.
Meanwhile, national pair Yap Roy King- Valeree Siow were forced to retire from their match against England's Ethan van Leeuwen-Chloe Birch.
Valeree sustained a leg injury when they were trailing 16-12.
Earlier, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin advanced to the second round with a convincing 21-16, 21-10 win over China's world No. 25 Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui.