Asian legs of the World Tour will sharpen Shevon-Soon Huat for the Games qualification – Latest News

PETALING JAYA: National mixed doubles ace Shevon Lai Jemie looks to make the most of the Asian stages of next month’s World Tour to prepare her and teammate Goh Soon Huat for the resumption of the Tokyo Olympics qualifying battle in “life or death”. in March.

The 27-year-old is delighted to be able to make it to the two Thailand Opens and possibly also the World Tour Finals in Bangkok, the top three tournaments, as a test to gauge her position after a 10-month hiatus.

Like many of the best ferries around the world, Shevon and Soon Huat have also seen no action after competing in the All-England in mid-March due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The currently halted qualifying race will not restart until March.

The Swiss Open March 2-7 will be the first of six major incomplete qualifiers including the German Open (March 9-14), the Malaysian Open (March 31-April 4), the Singapore (April 13-18), Asian Badminton. Championships (from April 27 to May 2) and Indian Open (from May 11 to 16).

“The Thai events will be extremely important to us as we want to use them to get back on track after a long absence from competition,” said Shevon.

“We are fortunate that we are not cut out to play in the Olympic qualifiers right away as soon as the season resumes. It makes a big difference to have a few tournaments in hand to gradually build progress and hopefully reach the top at the right time.

“And the fact that we can play in top-tier matches where all the top-tier players will come back is great. If we do it right, our confidence will do a lot of good. “

Shevon and Soon Huat still have a chance to qualify for next year’s Olympics.

In Road to Tokyo’s suspended ranking, they are ranked 11th on the list, just four rungs below the independent Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying ferries.

A country can have a maximum of two pairs if they are ranked in the top eight when the qualification period ends.

“The few qualifying events will be enough for us. We just can’t afford to slip if we want to qualify, ”Shevon said.

“It seems difficult, but we will not give up until we reach the goal.”

The World Badminton Federation (BWF) has lined up the Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and the Yonex Thailand Open (January 19-24) respectively.

This will be followed by the World Tour Finals at the same location on January 27-31.

Shevon and Soon Huat are still on track to be in the top eight by the end of the season, as they are currently in 10th place in the points standings.