On a roll: Aaron Chia (left) and Soh Wooi Yik seem to have found their form going by their straight-game wins en route to the men’s doubles final at the All-England. — AP
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are enjoying their game again after getting off to a jittery start this season. Aaron-Wooi Yik have been playing some of their best badminton this year that has seen them reach the final of the All-England.
The world No. 5 secured an impressive 21-16, 21-15 victory over German Open champions Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan of Taiwan in just 39 minutes at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Saturday to set up a meeting with Indonesia’s defending champions Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto.
The Indonesians beat Japan’s world No. 6 Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 21-18, 21-18 in the other last four tie.
The transformation in Aaron-Wooi Yik’s game is timely ahead of the Paris Olympic Games in July.
At the start of this year, they had lacked confidence in crucial stages during the Malaysian Open (quarter-finals), Indian Open (semi-finals) and French Open (quarter-finals), which saw them falling short of their own goals.
But their winning streak against the Taiwanese and also straight-game victories from the opening round en route to the final in Birmingham have lifted their morale.
The former world champions have now made it into their second final in the prestigious tournament after they finished runners-up to Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan in 2019.
“After five years, we have reached another final here,” said Aaron in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“We are happy with the performance today (Sarurday) but we still have one more match to go.
“We have to get enough rest, prepare ourselves and give our best tomorrow (today).
Wooi Yik said: We prepared well to face the Taiwanese pair. We analysed videos of them and discussed with our coaches on how to handle them.
“They have improved a lot and they are capable of putting pressure through their attacking play.
“We focused on not giving them chances to attack much and imposed our own game.
“Hopefully, we can maintain our performance in the final.”
Meanwhile, national coaching director Rexy Mainaky was pleased to see his charges enjoying themselves again on court.
“They had struggled at the start of the year but now, they are in the All-England final,” said Rexy.
“It’s always nice when you see your players enjoy the game – that’s what I’ve seen in Aaron-Wooi Yik this whole week.”
RESULTS
Semi-Finals
Men’s singles: Anthony Ginting (Ina) bt Christo Popov (Fra) 19-21, 21-5,21-11; Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 21-12, 10-21, 21-15.
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan (Tpe) 21-16, 21-15; Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (Ina) bt Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 21-18, 21-18.
Women’s singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt An Se-young (Kor) 21-10, 19-21, 21-14; Carolina Marin (Spa) bt Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) 21-13, 21-12.
Final: Carolina Marin bt Akane Yamaguchi 26-24, 11-1 (rtd).
Women’s doubles: Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) bt Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) 21-15, 21-12; Baek Ha-na-Lee Sohee (Kor) bt Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) 21-17,18-21, 21-16.
Final: Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) 21-19, 11-21, 21-17.
Mixed doubles: Zheng SiWei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) 21-14, 21-13; Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek (Tha) 21-14, 21-16.
