Thanks a million: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik acknowledging the crowd’s cheers after their win. — S.S. KANESAN / The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Beware of the dangerous rising Danish duo.
This was Soh Wooi Yik’s warning after he was made to sweat along with Aaron Chia in his match against Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard before making it to the second round of the Malaysian Open.
Kjaer-Sogaard, who are currently ranked No. 22 in the world, had secured several impressive results last year, stunning the likes of China’s world No. 1 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang and world No. 12 independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.
And they were halfway through adding world No. 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik to their list of scalps after taking the first game 22-20.
Aaron-Wooi Yik recovered quickly, winning 21-13, 21-13 in the next two games much to the delight of the home fans at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
The pair were relieved to come through the tricky test.
“It was our first meeting against this pair and we were not comfortable with their game play,” said Aaron.
“Luckily, we managed to get into our rhythm and slowly regained our confidence as the match progressed.”
Wooi Yik said: “We knew that they were a dangerous pair. They had even beaten the Chinese world No. 1 pair twice.
“They are a pair to watch out for in the future.
“It’s all about using the right strategy and this time the match went in our favour but they will only get stronger after this.”
Wooi Yik credited the home fans for helping him and Aaron turn the tide in their favour.
“We are happy to play at home and get the win in our first match here,” said Wooi Yik.
“The fans were really supportive and gave us an extra boost to catch up after losing the first game.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik will take on teammates Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani today for a place in the quarter-finals.
Tough nut to crack: Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani in action against Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand during the first round of the Malaysian Open. — S.S.KANESAN/The Star
World No. 26 Sze Fei-Izzuddin edged Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren 21-17, 22-20 in another opening round tie.
Aaron is bracing for another tough match against Sze Fei-Izzuddin.
“It won’t be easy against our teammates.
“We train with each other every day and know each other’s games well,” said Aaron.
“We need to fight hard and whichever pair goes through will be same as we are both Malaysians.”
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Malaysians unless stated
MEN’S SINGLES: Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Christo Popov (Fra) 21-15, 21-7; Brian Yang (Can) bt Wang Tzu-wei (Tpe) 11-21, 21-17, 21-16; Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Ng Tze Yong 12-8, rtd; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 21-14, 21-23, 21-15; Lin Chun-yi (Tpe) bt Kantaphon Wangcharoen (Tha) 21-17, 21-13; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt H.S. Prannoy (Ind) 21-14, 21-11;
MEN’S DOUBLES: Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan (Tpe) bt Chen Boyang-Liu Yi (Chn) 20-22, 22-20, 21-12; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani bt Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren (Tha) 21-17, 22-20; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana (Ina) 21-18, 21-19; Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 21-14, 21-14; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Rasmus Kjaer-Frederick Sogaard (Den) 20-22, 21-13, 21-13; Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Akira Koga-Taichi Saito (Jpn) 21-18, 21-15; Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar (Fra) bt Kim Won-ho-Na Sung-seung (Kor) 21-16, 9-21, 21-19; He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (Chn) bt Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi (Chn) 21-19, 21-15;
WOMEN’S SINGLES: Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) bt Zhang Beiwen (US) 23-21, 21-19; Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha) bt Gao Fangjie (Chn) 17-21, 22-20, 21-10; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Aya Ohori (Jpn) 21-18, 21-12; He Bingjiao (Chn) bt Mia Blichfeldt (Den) 21-15, 21-15; Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Thet Htar Thuzar (Mya) 21-19, 21-10; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Pornpicha Choeikeewong (Tha) 21-14, 21-14; Goh Jin Wei bt Sung Shuo-yun (Tpe) 21-18, 21-11; Gregoria Mariska (Ina) bt Natsuki Nidaira (Jpn) 20-22, 21-18, 21-14;
WOMEN’S DOUBLES: Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing 21-14, 21-13; Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam (Hkg) bt Linda Efler-Isabel Lohau (Ger) 21-17, 21-16; Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) bt Paula Lynn Cao Hok-Lauren Lam (US) 21-11, 21-9; Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) bt Rui Hirokami-Yuna Kato (Jpn) 21-17, 21-9;
MIXED DOUBLES: Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 21-13, 21-14; Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle (Ina) bt Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith (Eng) 21-11, 19-21, 21-19; Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung (Kor) bt Ty Alexander Lindeman-Josephine Wu (Can) 21-12, 21-11; Mathias Thyrri-Amalie Magelund (Den) bt Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas (Ina) 21-17, 21-14; Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) 21-17, 21-18; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) 21-18, 21-16; Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See bt Chang Ko-chi-Lee Chih-chen (Tpe) 11-21, 26-24, 21-8;
