KUALA LUMPUR: It will be Paris 2024 Olympic Games all over again.
National men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, are set to relive their Paris 2024 bronze medal match drama as they face top seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen from Denmark in a mouthwatering Malaysia Masters 2025 semi-finals showdown at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, here tomorrow.
In the last eight tie today, the fifth-seeded Aaron-Wooi Yik overcame a nervy start, trailing 0-2 early, before shifting into top gear to blast past Denmark’s seventh-seeded pair, Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard, with a commanding 21-10 win in the opening set.
Down 15-18 in the second game, the 2022 world champions once again showed great resilience as they roared back by picking up three straight points to tie the score 18-18 and slammed the door shut for the Danes with a 21-19 win to book a place in the semis, much to the delight of the home crowd.
On the other hand, the world number one pair Astrup-Rasmussen, who are also the Malaysia Masters defending champions, made their way to the last four as they ousted their compatriots, Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard, 21-16, 22-20.
Commenting on the match, Aaron said they had moments of doubts in the second set, which caused them to trail a few times but glad to regain momentum and closed out the match.
Asked on tomorrow’s action, Wooi Yik expects another tough match despite having a good head-to-head record, winning eight out of 12 matches previously.
“We know each other well, it doesn’t matter if we win or lose, it’s all about how we control our game tomorrow,” he told reporters.
Last August, Aaron-Wooi Yik defended their Olympic Games bronze medal for a second time in a row when they came from behind to beat the Astrup-Rasmussen, 16-21, 22-20, 21-19.
