File photo of Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong. They are one step closer to winning their first Superseries title
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong are on course for their second title in India this year – albeit a more prestigious one.
The Indian Open Grand Prix Gold winners in January continued their march towards their first Superseries title after rallying from a game down to beat fourth seeds Mads Pieler Kolding-Mads Conrad-Petersen to reach the semi-finals of the Indian Open in New Delhi on Friday.
The world No. 14 V Shem-Wee Kiong secured a hard-fought 19-21, 21-16, 21-13 victory against their Danish rivals in 58 minutes.
V Shem-Wee Kiong had lost to the world No. 12 Danes in the second round of the All-England last year.
The Malaysians will now take on Indonesia’s world No. 17 Gideon Markus Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, the semi-finalists in last week’s New Zealand Open, for a place in the final.
“V Shem and Wee Kiong played steady,” said coach Jeremy Gan.
“They were tactically spot-on and combined really well to exact sweet revenge on the same opponents they lost to the last time they met.”
His confidence boosted, V Shem is setting his sights on capturing his first Superseries title with Wee Kiong, although he had previously won the 2014 Malaysian Open with Lim Khim Wah.
V Shem-Wee Kiong wanted to prove a point after suffering an early exit in the Swiss Open two weeks ago – which came a week after they reached the last four at the All-England.
“Our confidence is growing with each win ... we hope to keep it up,” said V Shem.
“Having come this far, we really hope to grab this opportunity after blowing our chances at the All-England last month.
“We have yet to win a Superseries title together since being paired up 18 months ago.
“But first, we will have to focus on tomorrow’s match against Gideon and Kevin. Although we’ve beaten them before (at the Swiss Open last year), we are taking nothing for granted.”
