Tough challenge: Aaron Chia (front) and Soh Wooi Yik will play Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Saito in the first round today.
PETALING JAYA: This week’s Indian Open will offer some redemption for men’s doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to make up for the Malaysian Open disappointment.
The world No. 4 are in a similar position after falling in the quarter-finals at the Malaysian Open last week and they need a spirited run in New Delhi to make sure they don’t falter in the Olympic qualifying race.
Aaron-Wooi Yik can take some consolation from last year’s inspiring run in the Indian Open where they finished runner-up.
An early exit will see them lose world ranking points and this is also something the Malaysian pair will be mindful as they need to maintain their spot in the top eight to confirm their ticket to the Paris Olympics.
Maintaining their top four position will also ensure they get a favourable seeding at the 2024 Paris and they have everything to fight for at the Indian Open and also in the coming main Badminton World Federation (BWF) tour events this year.
However, they need to be mindful of the dangerous Japanese pair Akira Koga-Taichi Saito, who have beaten the Malaysians four times in seven meetings, in the first round today.
Koga-Saito had beaten Aaron-Wooi Yik in their previous meeting – the Japan Masters – last year and the Malaysians will have to be on their guards to avoid a first round defeat.
National director of coaching Rexy Mainaky said if Aaron-Wooi Yik can play to their form, they should not have any issues with Koga-Saito.
“Aaron-Wooi Yik’s performance wasn’t too bad at the Malaysian Open although they lost in the last eight where they lost to world champions (Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae of the South Korea),” said Rexy.
“If Aaron-Wooi Yik can play to their ability, they should have no problem beating the Japanese pair in the first round.”
Another pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani should have no problem beating Adam Dong-Nyi Yakura of Japan in their opening match.
In the men’s singles, Lee Zii Jia will have a chance to overcome the disappointment of his first round exit at the Malaysian Open when he plays Brian Yang of Canada.
World No. 10 Zii Jia, who lost in straight games to Lu Guangzu of China at the Axiata Arena, should use the match to prepare for a tough encounter against either Jonatan Christie of Indonesia or Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong in the second round.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei will also brace for a tough first round match against Indonesians Rinov Rivaldi-Pitha Haningtyas in the opening round today.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei, the world No. 9, have yet to beat the Indonesian world No. 19 in three meetings and national coach Nova Widianto has cautioned his charges to tread with caution.
“Tang Jie-Ee Wei cannot allow Rinov-Pitha to dictate terms if they want to break their losing streak. They must be aggressive,” said Nova.
Independent pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing face the possibility of another first round exit as they will play Malaysian Open champions Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan today.
