Chan Peng Soon

Early and personal life

Chan was born on 22 May 1988 in George Town, Penang to Chan Chee Kong and Loo Leng Hua. He has a younger sister, Chan Lay Cheng and a younger brother, Chan Peng Keat. He first started playing badminton at age seven but only began training seriously when he was 12. He only completed Form Three before dropped out of school to concentrated fully on badminton. He joined the national team when he was 18.

Chan is married to Malaysian singer, Ester Cham May May since September 2010. They have a son, Milton Chan and a daughter, Hannah Chan.

Career

Chan made his international debut in 2006. In July 2009, Chan won his first senior international title with Lim Khim Wah at the Thailand Open by defeating compatriot Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah in the final. In October 2009, Chan and Goh Liu Ying reached their first international tournament final at the Vietnam Open but were defeated by Flandy Limpele and Cheng Wen-hsing.

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. 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 May 2011, they finish as runner-up to Indonesian pair, Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir in the final of the Malaysia Open. In November 2011, they won the Bitburger Open by defeating Denmark's Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl.

In March 2012, they reached the semi-finals of All England Open before losing to eventual champion, Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir. In the following month, they became the runner-up of 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 and Goh represented Malaysia at the 2012 London Olympics. They were the first ever Malaysian mixed doubles pair to qualify for the Olympics Games. They lost all three group matches and fails 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 China Open but were defeated by top seed, Xu Chen and Ma Jin in straight sets.

In January 2013, they became the runner-up of Malaysia Open after losing to Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen in the final. In January 2014, Lai Pei Jing was chosen as his new partner while Goh went on hiatus to recover from knee surgery. In their first international competition together, Chan and Lai reached the final of Austrian International before losing to Robert Mateusiak and Agnieszka Wojtkowska.

In April 2014, Chan briefly resume his partnership with Goh at the Singapore Open. Chan revive his partnership with Lai after Goh finally decided to undergo surgery on both her knees and will be out of action for the rest of the year. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Chan win the gold medal in the mixed team event. In the mixed doubles event, the pair lost the bronze medal match to Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier.

Chan resumed his partnership with Goh in 2015 where they won three titles that year, the Polish Open, Russian Open and the Mexico Open. At the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, they won silver after losing to Indonesia's Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto in the mixed doubles final.

In 2016, they became the runner-up of the inaugural edition of Thailand Masters after losing to unseeded Chinese pair, Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen in the final. In March, they clinched their first title of the year by winning the New Zealand Open. In April, 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-up and progress to quarter finals round. In the quarter finals, they beat Group B winner, Robert Mateusiak and Nadieżda Zięba of Poland. In the semi-finals, they beat China's Xu Chen and Ma Jin in straight sets to reach the final.

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. Despite the fact that Goh and Chan lost in the final, they had created history of being the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to claim an Olympic medal.

In March 2017, Chan and Goh become 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 after a few controversial fault calls by the umpire. In April, they reached the semi-finals of Indian Open but were forced to concede a walkover to Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen after Goh fell ill. They later suffered first round loss to Edi Subaktiar-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the Malaysia Open.

With Goh out of action due to injury, Chan partner Peck Yen Wei at the Indonesian Open where they reached the semi-finals. Chan later team up with Cheah Yee See for the Australian Open and reached the quarter-finals. In July, Chan and Cheah won their first career title together at the Russia Open. At the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, he won silver in men's team and bronze in mixed doubles event.

Finals (10 titles, 11 runners-up)