KUALA LUMPUR: For most married couples, separation is a last resort. For Malaysian shuttler Shevon Lai Jemie, it\u2019s a tactical option she\u2019s perfectly willing to embrace for Sudirman Cup glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the team prepares for their Group C battles in Xiamen against Japan, Australia and France starting on Sunday, Lai is perfectly comfortable leaving husband Goh Soon Huat for another partner if national duty calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course, in any situation, if the team need us to split, we\u2019re definitely okay with it. It\u2019s all about doing what\u2019s best for the team,\u201d Lai said during a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Lai, a temporary on-court separation could offer more than just tactical advantages for the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cActually, it\u2019s a good experience to play with a different partner. We get to learn something new, and it\u2019s quite refreshing,\u201d she told Malaysia\u2019s Star newspaper. \u201cYes, it gives us a fresh perspective and allows us to adapt to different styles of play. Both Soon Huat and I are always trying to become more all-rounded as players.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malaysia\u2019s mixed doubles arsenal also includes Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin, and Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei \u2013 the latter having mended a previously fractious relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the women\u2019s doubles department, Malaysia will field Pearly Tan-M Thinaah alongside Go Pei Kee-Carmen Ting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lai and Goh were part of Malaysia\u2019s bronze medal-winning squad at the 2023 Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, though they featured in just one match \u2013 a victory over India\u2019s Ashwini Ponnapa-Dhruv Kapilla in the opening Group C tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sudirman Cup is badminton\u2019s premier mixed team world championship, and will be staged in Xiamen, China, from April 27 to May 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 19th edition of the biennial tournament will unfold at the Fenghuang Gymnasium within the Xiamen Olympic Sports Center, and features 16 national teams vying for global supremacy. The competition\u2019s format includes five matches per tie\u2014men\u2019s and women\u2019s singles, men\u2019s and women\u2019s doubles, and mixed doubles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KUALA LUMPUR: For most married couples, separation is a last resort. For Malaysian shuttler Shevon Lai Jemie, it\u2019s a tactical option she\u2019s perfectly willing to embrace for Sudirman Cup glory. As the team prepares for their Group C battles in Xiamen against Japan, Australia and France starting on Sunday, Lai is perfectly comfortable leaving husband […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","inline_featured_image":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3859443944190656_798604363342440":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4523,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4521\/revisions\/4523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}