Positive Vibe

Positive Vibe - Lai Pei Jing sees positives in the semi-final defeat with Tan Kian Meng at the German Open.

On Saturday, world No. 9 Kian Meng-Pei Jing went down fighting 21-16, 16-21, 17-21 in the mixed doubles to top seeds Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong of China. The Malaysians fought until 16-16 in the decider before the Chinese pulled away for the win.

It was one of Kian Meng-Pei Jing’s best matches this year and Pei Jing hopes to ride on that momentum at the All-England starting in Birmingham on Wednesday.

“We were quite demoralised when we competed in the German Open. Just a week earlier, we had lost in the semi-final of the National Championships. We even struggled to get our game going in the first two matches here (in Mulheim),” said Pei Jing.

“But in the semis, we managed to step up. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t finish off well.”

The duo started the year on a good note by bagging the Malaysian Masters in January.

“We’ve got the chemistry going again so we hope to keep this good vibe going at the All-England,” she added.

Pei Jing is making a comeback at the All-England after missing it last year. She has never cleared the early rounds in three previous attempts with Tan Aik Quan in 2012 and 2015 and Chan Peng Soon in 2014.

“This is the first All-England for Kian Meng but the fourth for me. It’ll be challenging but we hope it’ll bring the best in us.”

Eighth seeds Kian Meng-Pei Jing have been drawn to play Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet in the first round. If they win, they face either South Korea’s Yoo Yeon-seong-Kim Ha-na or India’s Pranaav Jerry Chopra-Reddy N. Sikki.

Olympic silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying are seeded sixth. The world No. 8 will take on Sweden’s Nico Ruponen-Amanda Hogstrom in the first round.