KUALA LUMPUR — National top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik are confident of making a strong showing to win the World Tour Finals (WTF), buoyed by the absence of several key rivals.
The world number five pair secured their spot in the WTF after reaching the quarter-finals of the China Masters last week.
The prestigious BWF event, offering prize money of US$2.5 million (RM11.88 million), is scheduled to take place in Hangzhou next month and is open only to the top eight singles players and doubles pairs in the world.
Aaron acknowledged that although top rivals like India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and China’s Liang Wei Kang-Wang Chang failed to qualify for the WTF, he and Wooi Yik cannot afford to underestimate the remaining competitors.
“We want to do our best. We don’t know the draw yet, but I hope we can progress from the group stage. We have a chance to win the tournament since our main rivals didn’t qualify.
“However, that doesn’t mean we should underestimate the other opponents, as they are equally strong, including Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
“The men’s doubles category is very competitive and not easy,” said Aaron during a press conference following a partnership ceremony between Affin Group and the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) today.
Meanwhile, Wooi Yik highlighted the qualification of compatriots Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani for this year’s WTF as a significant boost for Malaysia in the doubles category.
“We’re happy that we have managed to secure the maximum slots for the tournament, and this gives us a better chance to achieve more in the doubles category. I’m happy for Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin,” said Wooi Yik.
Earlier, there were concerns that Malaysia’s top pair would miss the season-ending WTF after Wooi Yik suffered a fractured toe in their bronze medal run at the Paris Olympics in August.
They had to skip several tournaments, missing out on WTF qualifying points, and only made their return last month at the Denmark Open.
In a scramble to qualify for the WTF, they played non-stop, even competing in Super 300 tournaments like the Korea Masters. — November 29, 2024