MALAYSIA’S national men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open after edging out Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita at the Nimibutr Stadium today.
The reigning Asian men’s doubles champions needed just 38 minutes to secure a 21-17, 21-17 straight sets victory against the world-ranked number 59 Japanese pair.
Wooi Yik noted that their performance was significantly better compared to the first round, as they successfully implemented their coaches’ strategies.
“Our attacking game plan worked well, and we were quite patient throughout. In the second game, we were a bit in a rush before the interval, but after that, we adjusted the rhythm, and it paid off,“ he told Bernama after the match on Thursday.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will next face compatriots Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, who earlier defeated another young Malaysian men’s doubles pair, Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai, 21-11, 21-11, in just 24 minutes.
Aaron remarked that it was encouraging to see the juniors performing well and expressed hope for a strong showing in the upcoming match.
“It’s a positive sign for the country that the juniors are stepping up. Hopefully, they will continue to give their best tomorrow. We’ll have to play our best game, and may the better pair progress,“ he said.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian pair, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, fell to Denmark’s William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjaer in a hard-fought 46-minute battle, losing 21-15, 19-21, 18-21.
In the men’s singles, professional shuttler Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin put up a strong fight against world number 20 Lu Guang Zu of China but ultimately bowed out.
Aidil Sholeh claimed the first game 21-18 but ran out of steam in the second and third, losing 16-21, 14-21, in a match that lasted over an hour.
Other results
(Notes: All Malaysian unless stated and [ ] denotes seedings)
Men’s Singles:
[5] Loh Kean Yew (SGP) bt Nhat Nguyen (IRL) 21-5, 21-6
[4] Kodai Naraoka (JPN) bt Weng Hong Yang (CHN) 21-14, 21-9
Ramus Gemke (DEN) bt [3] Chou Tien Chen (TPE) 15-21, 21-16, 21-13
Men’s Doubles:
[1] Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA) bt Lu Ching Yao-Wei Chun Wei (TPE) 21-23, 21-19, 21-15
[5] Kittinupong Kerden-Dechapol Puavaranukroh (THA) bt Jin Yong-Na Sung Seung (KOR) 21-16, 21-16
[7] Liu Kuang Heng-Yang Po Han (TPE) bt Kang Min Hyuk-Ki Dong Ju (KOR) 21-8, 21-19
Women’s Singles:
[2] Chen Yu Fei (CHN) bt Sim Yu Jin (KOR) 21-16, 21-12
[3] Tomoka Miyazaki (JPN) bt Tung Ciou-Tong (TPE) 21-18, 21-14
[1] Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA) bt Unnati Hooda (IND) 21-14, 21-11
Women’s Doubles:
[2] Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi (INA) bt Jacqueline Cheung-Catherine Choi (CAN) 21-11, 21-11
Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (JPN) bt [3] Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (IND) 22-20, 21-14
Mixed Doubles:
[2] Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping (CHN) bt Po Li Wei-Chang Ching Hui (TPE) 21-15, 21-9
[3] Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (HKG) bt Zhu Yi Jun-Zhang Ci (CHN) 23-21, 21-15
