KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian badminton has never had it so good — two pairs of semi-finalists in the prestigious World Tour Finals (WTF).
Mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai smashed their way into the history books in Hangzhou today.
The two Malaysian pairs performed magnificently to win their final group matches to march into the last four.
A draw for the semi-finals, where only the group champions are separated, will be conducted by BWF tonight. This means Soon Huat-Shevon could meet either China's world No. 2 Feng Yan Zhe-Wei Ya Xin, who topped Group A or meet Group B winners Tang Jie-Ee Wei.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei defeated Japan's world No. 21 Hidori Midorikawa-Natsu Saito 21-17, 21-18 today while Soon Huat-Shevon subdued Indonesia's world No. 13 Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emauelle Widjaja 17-21, 21-15, 21-14 to finish second in the group.
Soon Huat, 34, was the man of the hour for his true grit in getting him and his wife, Shevon Lai through. He overcame bruised ribs as they came from behind to beat Ferdinansyah-Gloria in 70 minutes.
Soon Huat hurt his ribs when diving to retrieve a shot while leading 9-5 in the third game. He vomited by the court side and needed a medical break.
However, the veteran warrior battled on to deliver one of his most memorable victories with Shevon to reach the WTF semi-finals for the second time since 2020.
The independent pair, who mainly depend on prize money as their income, are assured of US$50,000 (RM222,600) for reaching the semi-finals.
Shevon hailed her husband's supreme effort in enduring pain to take them into the semi-finals.
"I salute Soon Huat's extraordinary willpower to keep going. He hurt his ribs badly and I'm not 100 per cent sure of his condition now," said a worried Shevon.
"Making it to the semi-finals after losing the first match (to Tang Jie-Ee Wei) means a lot to us.
"As independent players, the prize money is a big boost as we need to seek our own funding, and having a bit more (money) helps in terms of planning to compete in more higher level tournaments next year."
However, Soon Huat's bruised ribs will be a concern as he tries to recover in 24 hours for the semi-finals.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will feature in their first WTF semi-finals after failing to get past the group stage in their debut last year.
The pair said they must curb their habit of losing focus after a good start. "Despite winning, we lost our focus midway through today's match and this is something we have to rectify fast. We cannot afford to do the same in the semi-finals," said Tang Jie.