Soh was born in Kuala Lumpur. He is the son of former Malaysian badminton player Soh Goon Chup.[13] His maternal uncle Soo Beng Kiang is a former Malaysia badminton player and Olympian and had partnered with Cheah Soon Kit to help Malaysia win the 1992 Thomas Cup.[14]
Career
He began playing badminton when he was 4.[13] He was selected to play for Kuala Lumpur when he was 7. He later received an offer to study at Bukit Jalil Sports School when he was 13.[15]
2012
Soh reached the final of boys' singles and doubles U-15 events at the 2012 Asian Youth Championships and became the runner-up for both events.[16]
2015
In September, Soh partnered Aaron Chia and reached the final of Malaysia Junior International, finishing as runners-up.[17]
In November, the duo competed at the 2015 World Junior Championships but crashed out in the fourth round.[18] In the same month, Soh partnered Ooi Zi Heng and won gold at the 2015 ASEAN School Games.[19] Based on his improved performance, he was drafted to the national back-up squad at the end of the year where he was coached by Cheah Soon Kit.[20]
In November, he won a silver medal in the mixed team event of the 2016 World Junior Championships after being defeated by China in the final.[22][23] He then suffered injuries and was not able to compete in the individual event, failing to improve his performance from last year. Despite this, he was still drafted into the national team after the tournament.[24]
In March 2019, Soh and Chia participated in the All England Open where they emerged as a surprise finalist. The pair settled for second best after losing to Ahsan and Setiawan in the final.[31] In December 2019, he helped the Malaysian team to win a silver medal in the men's team event at the 2019 SEA Games.[32][33] He and Chia then took part in the men's doubles event and went on to win the gold, beating Bodin Isara and Maneepong Jongjit in the final.[4]
In January, Soh and Chia reached their third BWF World Tour final at the Thailand Open and finished as the runner-ups.[36]
In late July, the duo made their debut appearance in the men's doubles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The duo prevailed against Ahsan and Setiawan 17–21, 21–17, 21–14 in the bronze medal playoff, winning bronze for Malaysia.[6]
He was one of the Malaysian players that won bronze at the 2021 Sudirman Cup in late September.[37]
In August, he won a gold medal in the mixed team event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.[40] He also won a bronze medal in the men's doubles event with Chia, ending his debut campaign with two medals.[7] A few weeks later, Soh and Chia competed at the 2022 World Championships as the sixth seeds. In the final, they defeated three-time world champions Ahsan and Setiawan 21–19, 21–14 to clinch Malaysia's first ever gold medal at the tournament.[3]
2023: First BWF World Tour title
In the first half of 2023, Soh and Chia did not manage to win any of the tournaments they participated in. Their most notable achievements were reaching the finals of India Open in January[41] and Indonesia Open in June.[42] Soh also helped the Malaysian team win a second consecutive bronze medal at the 2023 Sudirman Cup in May.[43]
They then contested their third final of the year at the China Open in September. However, they went down to Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in straight games.[45]
2024: Second All England runner-up finish & second Olympic bronze
In February, Soh won his second silver medal as a part of Malaysia's men's team at the 2024 Asia Team Championships.[47]
In March, he and Chia participated in the All England Open and brought home the silver medals again after surprisingly doing so five years ago in 2019. They lost to Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia after going down with the score of 16–21, 16–21.[48]
In the following month, the pair lost in the semi-finals of the 2024 Asian Championships, securing them a bronze medal.[10]
In early August, he and Chia participated in the 2024 Summer Olympics, their second Olympic appearance. They lost to China's Liang and Wang in the semi-finals 19–21, 21–15, 17–21.[49] In the bronze medal match, he and Chia retained their Olympic bronze medals, defeating Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in three tight games, 16–21, 22–20, 21–19.[11] With the victory, they became the first-ever Malaysian men's doubles pair to win back-to-back Olympic medals.[12]
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[54] 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, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[55]
^Tournament Software did not include the results of men's team event of the 2022 Asian Games for head-to-head (Chia and Soh won against Kang and Seo 21–17, 21–9).[57]
^Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
