KUALA LUMPUR – Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik marched on to the quarter-finals of the China Open today after a straight-sets win.
They downed home pair He Jiting-Zhou Haodong at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou, China.
The world number 16 ranked Chinese pair could not deliver in front of a home crowd, going down 21-16, 21-17 in 40 minutes.
Wooi Yik said they were focused on their gameplay and kept the pressure on the Chinese pair, capitalising on their mistakes.
Aaron added that keeping the pressure was important as Chinese doubles are known for their fighting spirit.
“We have to focus on each point because we know that Chinese pairs will always fight until the end no matter how much you are leading,” added Aaron during the post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation.
This is the fourth tournament in a row for the world number six pair where they have reached the quarter-finals or further.
They had reached the last eight at the Japan and Australian Open, and then made it to the semi-finals of the World Championships.
“There is more to improve on our consistency, of course, we’ve done well to reach a few quarters but our target is to go further and play more finals… that would be better,” said Aaron.
Yesterday, the Malaysian pair bested South Koreans Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho, also in straight sets 21-10, 25-23.
Their quarter-final opponents will be Danish pair Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Søgaard or compatriots Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, who will play later today. – September 7, 2023