Next up: Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun will play Japan’s Keiichiro Matsui-Yoshinori Takeuchi in the second round.
PETALING JAYA: Youngsters Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are refusing to get carried away after scoring their first breakthrough win over senior pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland.
Playing Aaron-Wooi Yik for the second time, Wei Chong-Kai Wun pulled off a fairly easy 21-11, 21-18 win over their compatriots in just 26 minutes in the first round on Wednesday to set up a meeting against Keiichiro Matsui-Yoshinori Takeuchi of Japan next.
It was Wei Chong-Kai Wun’s first top five scalp as Aaron-Wooi Yik are ranked world No. 4 but Wei Chong believes that they need to more consistency against the top pairs.
Aaron-Wooi Yik were the second seeds in the tournament and were tipped to win following the withdrawal of reigning Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty on India.
“I guess there wasn’t much pressure on us because they are our seniors and among the top seeds here. We were able to give our best without overthinking,” said the 24-year-old Wei Chong.
“We haven’t been consistent enough. We win some, then we lose some. It’s been up and down really.
“There’s a bit of excitement of course but it’s only one match so we can’t lose focus.”
National director of coaching Rexy Mainaky said the victory should give Wei Chong-Kai Wun the motivation to perform better against top pairs.
Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia are the other big names Wei Chong-Kai Wun had beaten en route to reaching Malaysian Masters final where they lost to reigning world champions Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung-jae of South Korea.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun, the world No 23, had won the Taiwan Open in June but none of the top five pairs competed in the tournament.
“It’s a good win for them and I hope this victory can boost their confidence when playing against top pairs,” said Rexy.
The two weeks of pressure-filled competition in the Hangzhou Asian Games, which concluded on Sunday, seem to have drained the energy of the bronze medal winners Aaron-Wooi Yik.
“Wooi Yik looks a bit fatigued and hopefully, the few days of break will help to play better in the Opens in Denmark (Oct 17-22) and France (Oct 24-29),” added Rexy.
“It will be hectic but they will compete until the French Open.”
Independent men’s doubles Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi face Alexander Dunn-Adam Hall of Scotland in the second round.
In the women’s doubles, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) pair Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing made it to the second round for a clash against second seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand.
However, independent pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien lost 21-17, 21-23, 21-19 to Sung Shou-yun-Yu Chien-hui of Taiwan in their opening round.
