Chan Peng SoonAMN (born 27 April 1988) is a Malaysian former badminton player specialised in the mixed doubles event. He has had a partnership with Goh Liu Ying where they have been consistently ranked among the top 10 mixed doubles pair in the world. Chan and Goh reached a career high ranking of world number 3 in 2012 and won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In April 2010, they became the country's first ever mixed doubles champions in a top-flight international tournament after winning the Badminton Asia Championships by defeating South Korean's Yoo Yeon-seong and Kim Min-jung in the final.[3] At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal in mixed team event. In the mixed doubles event, Chan and Goh lost the bronze medal match to Chayut Triyachart and Yao Lei.
In March 2012, they reached the semi-finals of the All England Open before losing to the eventual champions, Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir. In the following month, they became the runner-up of the Australia Open after losing to Chinese Taipei's Chen Hung-Ling and Cheng Wen-Hsing in the final. They gained their first ever Malaysia Open crown by beating Indonesian pair, Irfan Fadhilah and Weni Anggraini.
Chan at the 2013 French Open
Chan and Goh represented Malaysia at the 2012 London Olympics. They were the first ever Malaysian mixed doubles pair to qualify for the Olympic Games.[4] They lost all three group matches and failed to progress to quarter-finals in their Olympics debut. In September 2012, Chan and Goh won their first Super Series title at the Japan Open by beating Muhammad Rijal and Lilyana Natsir. In November 2012, they reached the final of the China Open but were defeated by top seed, Xu Chen and Ma Jin in straight sets.
In April 2014, Chan briefly resumed his partnership with Goh at the Singapore Open.[7] Chan resumed his partnership with Lai after Goh decided to undergo surgery on both her knees and being out of action for the rest of the year.[8] At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Chan won the gold medal in the mixed team event.[9] In the individual mixed doubles event, Chan and Lai lost the bronze medal match to Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier.
In February 2016, they were runner-ups of the inaugural edition of Thailand Masters after losing to unseeded Chinese pair, Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen in the final. In March 2016, they clinched their first title of the year by winning the New Zealand Open.[13] In April 2016, they lost to Indonesian pair, Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir in the final of the Malaysia Open.
Goh and Chan qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. They won their first two group stage matches but lost the third to Indonesian pair, Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir. They finished as group runner-ups and progress to quarter finals round. In the quarter finals, they beat Poland's Robert Mateusiak and Nadieżda Zięba. In the semi-finals, they beat China's Xu Chen and Ma Jin in straight sets to reach the final.[14]
In the final, they had to settle for silver medal after they were beaten by Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir for the second time in the tournament.[15] Despite the fact that Goh and Chan lost in the final, they had created history by being the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to claim an Olympic medal.
In March 2017, Chan and Goh became the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to reach the All England Open final since 1955. They were close to winning but lost to China's Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong in rubber sets, in which a few controversial fault calls were made by the umpire against them.[16] In April 2017, they reached the semi-finals of Indian Open but were forced to concede a walkover to Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen after Goh fell ill. They later suffered a first round loss to Edi Subaktiar-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the Malaysia Open.
In July 2021, Chan with his partner Goh competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics,[24] but were eliminated in the group stage.[25]
On December 6, 2021, Chan announced in an Instagram post that he and Goh have decided to split up after 13 years of playing badminton together.[26] Chan will continue his career in badminton after splitting up for good with Goh.[27] He rejoined BAM starting from 1 January 2022.[28][29]Valeree Siow was chosen as Chan's new partner and the India Open was their first tournament together.[30][31] From May 2022, Chan resumed his 2017 partnership with Cheah Yee See, their first competition together being the Indonesia Open.[32]
Personal life
He is married to Malaysian singer Esther Cham May May since September 2010. They have four children: Milton, Hannah, Julian and Leah.[33]
Sponsorship
In May 2019, Chan and Goh were appointed by as Yobick Malaysia brand ambassadors.[34]
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[35] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[36]
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[37] was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011.[38] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.
^Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
