FIRSTLY, kudos to our doubles badminton pair delivering two World Tour titles in March. Our players are not ‘a quiet lot’ after all in the court.

On Sunday, our mixed doubles veteran, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai sprang a surprise winning the Swiss Open after beating compatriots Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei in Basel – much to the delight of the home fans.

It was nice to hear the shouts of ‘Malaysia Boleh’ from the Malaysian crowd there.

Prior to that, our young fast rising men’s doubles, Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri secured their first title of the season at the Orleans Masters in France on March 12-17 which ran concurrently with the All-England Championship in Birmingham.

Though both the pairs success came through a super 300 series, it’s still a big victory to be proud by all Malaysian. Let’s take it from here and move forward.

Pity, both these winning pair will not make it to the Olympics Games 2024 di Paris after failing to secure their spot.

Now its up to our top players like Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik or Lee Zii Jia to be inspired by Soon Huat-Shevon and Choong-Haikal winning mentality when they eye for a medal at the Games in July.

Even our top mixed doubles, Tang Jie-Ee Wei – who lost in the Swiss Open final to their compatriots – are listed as our medal prospect in Paris based on their world No.9 ranking at the moment.

All these players should envy the desire and hunger shown by Soon Huat-Shevon and Choong-Haikal to step into the court and win the trophy at all cost.

Only Aaron and Wooi Yik – the 2022 men’s doubles world champions – still remain our best hope for the podium finish in the Olympics. But, they need to show more fire and stability in their game. Also, they should win at least one title from the World Tour before going to Paris with more confidence.

They made it to the All England final, this year but failed in the last hurdle losing to top Indonesian pair, Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-16, 21-16. Their rival was much superior and were dominating play to win their second title in Birmingham.

For Aaron-Wooi Yik, this is their second appearance in the final of the prestigious tournament with their first in 2019 when they lost to another Indonesian pair, Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.

Our top pair need to fix their problem on the court fast and to stay strong among the top five pairs in the world for a medal chase. They already stated their target to hunt for the elusive gold for the country in Paris and the badminton fraternity must be happy hearing those inspiring words.

Our top men singles, Zii Jia did qualify to the quarter-finals at the All England but struggling to find the right footing to chase a title since winning the Arctic Open in 2023. That victory came 17 months after his last title at the Thailand Open in May 2022.

His best is still winning the All England in 2021, the year where the fans believed the Alor Setar born lad is ready to take over Datuk Lee Chong Wei supremacy. Has he done enough?

Only a gold will assure him as the best single player in the country’s badminton history. Otherwise Chong Wei’s name will remain etched as the three-time Olympic silver medalist.

Okay, put aside Zii Jia. Let’s get back to the sweet victory by Soon Huat-Shevon in Basel which is more interesting currently.

It was an inspiring and meaningful achievement for the veteran pair, not only they finally won the title in their third attempt at the Swiss Open but also ended their six-year wait for the World Tour crown after last winning the Singapore Open in 2018.

They also showed their fighting spirit brilliantly on Sunday and became the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to win the title since its inception in 1955.

In the final at the St. Jakobshalle, Basel, the world No.14 independent duo upset their compatriots Tang Jie-Ee Wei 21-16, 21-13 in just 37 minutes. Their deserving reward was a winning prize worth US$16,590 (RM78,000) while Tang Jie-Ee Wei pocketed US$7,980 (RM38,000).

“We have failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo dan 2024 Paris Olympics, but looking back, I believe God has helped us grow into much stronger individuals,” Shevon told Timesport Monday.

Soon Huat-Shevon will travel to Madrid for the Spain Masters starting Tuesday.

The Malaysian will open their campaign against China’s Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi in the first round. Good luck and may the force be with them.

Majulah sukan untuk negara!