Total control: Aaron Chia (left) and Soh Wooi Yik secured a dominant 21-15, 21-15 win over world No. 11 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi in the China Masters first round at the Shenzhen Bay Gymnasium. — AP
PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik justified their position as the country’s No. 1 men’s doubles pair by ending the hopes of current No. 2 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi in the opening round of the China Masters.
World No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik secured a dominant 21-15, 21-15 win over world No. 11 Yew Sin-Ee Yi at the Shenzhen Bay Gymna–sium yesterday.
It was Aaron-Wooi Yik’s sixth win over the independent pair in eight meetings and third consecutive victory this year.
Aaron was pleased with their performance.
“I think we started the match well and managed to maintain the momentum and game play till the end,” said Aaron.
It was a good start for Aaron-Wooi Yik after the duo had suffered a second round exit in the Japan Masters in Kumamoto last week.
For Yew Sin-Ee Yi, the defeat extinguished their slim chances of making the cut for the prestigious season-ending World Tour Finals from Dec 13-17 in Hangzhou.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who are already assured of a spot in the Finals, will face either Japan Masters champions He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu or another Chinese pair Tan Qiang-Zhou Houdong in the second round tomorrow.
Meanwhile, another national pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also made it into the second round with a hard-fought 21-11, 15-21, 21-17 victory over South Korea’s Jin Yong-Na Sung-seung.
It was a morale-boosting win for world No. 20 Wei Chong-Kai Wun, who have been struggling to be consistent throughout the year.
The pair will take on either homesters Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi or Indonesia’s Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana next for a place in the last eight.
It was all over though for Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who went down fighting 23-21, 22-24, 19-21 to Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Saito.
In the mixed doubles, top pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also suffered an early exit after losing 18-21, 18-21 to Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas.
RESULTS
(Malaysians only)
First round
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-15, 21-15; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun bt Jin Yong-Na Sung-seung (Kor) 21-11, 15-21, 21-17; Akira Koga-Taichi Saito (Jpn) bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani 21-23, 24-22, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas (Ina) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei 21-18, 21-18.
