Ready to rumble: Aaron Chia (right) and Soh Wooi Yik will face Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan in the first round.
PETALING JAYA: The world ranking is not a major concern for the nation’s top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik but what matters is to satisfy their hunger to win their first world tour title as soon as possible.
It may sound odd that world No. 3 Aaron-Wooi Yik have already been crowned world champions without having won a tour title and the curtain raiser Malaysian Open, which begins at the Axiata Arena on Tuesday, will provide them with a genuine opportunity.
Wooi Yik said that becoming Malaysia’s first ever world champions in the sport has not added pressure on them but a motivating factor for them to win an international crown.
Aaron-Wooi Yik closed the 2022 with a low key performance at the World Tour Finals in Bangkok (in December) after crashing out in the group stage without a win.
But Wooi Yik is hoping for redemption at the home tournament next week.
“As the world champions, we have to show that we are capable of performing in any tournaments. Our target is to reach the the semi-finals at least or the final in any tournament,” said Wooi Yik.
“I am not too concerned about the world ranking but I am craving for the world tour title now as this is a very important year for us as the Olympic qualifiers will begin (in May).
“We have played at the Malaysian Open many times but this year, it is quite special as it is a Super 1000 event, a big tournament for us like the All-England.
“We did not have a good outing in our last tournament but we are looking forward to the Malaysian Open where I like to play in this event at home.
“We have to be mentally strong and hope that we can play as well as we did at the World Championships.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik will face Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan in the first round before an expected clash against Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi of China in a tough second-round clash.
Yuchen-Xuanyi defeated Aaron-Wooi Yik in the group stage of the World Tour Finals and went on to win the title.
“We need to become more consistent and more stable in our performance. We need to maintain our quality in every rallies to win against the Chinese pair,” added Wooi Yik.
The top local pair lost in the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open last year but Wooi Yik looks determined to wipe out that disappointment with an improved performance next week.
