Pushing the limits: Pearly Tan (left) and M. Thinaah in action against China’s Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan. — Bernama
IT was a heart-stopping start for doubles shuttlers and gold medal hopefuls Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei in the Paris Olympics as they left it till late to get past their first opponents.
Both pairs had to survive nervy moments before coming away with victories to put themselves in great positions to progress to the quarter-finals.
World No. 4 men’s doubles duo Aaron-Wooi Yik diced with danger when they lost their opening game 19-21 against the tricky English pair of Ben Lane-Sean Vendy. However, they fought back to win the next two games 21-16, 21-11 in Group A at Adidas Arena in Porte de la Chapelle yesterday.
Aaron-Wooi Yik had lost their last meeting to Lane-Vendy in the semi-finals of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and struggled to assert themselves in the first game against their spirited opponents.
However, they bounced back strongly to win the second game and the rubber was much easier as they wrapped up victory in 72 minutes.
Aaron-Wooi Yik was relieved to come away with the crucial win.
“I admit that we really struggled in the first game, it was not normal for us,” said Wooi Yik in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“In the second game, we told each other not to give away easy points. We gained confidence and managed to get the win.”
Aaron said: “It was a tough match but a good start for us. We lost to Lane-Vendy in our last meeting in the Commonwealth Games. So, we are happy to get our first win here.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik now should have no problems qualifying for the last eight as they next play Canada’s Adam Dong-Nyl Yakura today and should get their second win.
In the mixed doubles, Tang Jie-Ee Wei beat Singapore’s husband-and-wife pairing of Terry Hee-Jessica Tan 23-21, 21-12 in Group D but not before making things difficult for themselves.
The world No. 9 pair were comfortably leading 20-16 but allowed the Singaporeans to level the scores at 20-20 before staying cool to narrowly win.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei then raised their game to come away with a convincing win in the second game.
Ee Wei was thrilled with her first ever match in her debut Olympics with Tang Jie.
“It was a rollercoaster first match and I’m happy that we won,” said Ee Wei.
“We prepared well and really talked about how we were going to control our emotions on court and it worked.”
Tang Jie-Ee Wei now have one foot in the quarter-finals. They should beat Americans Vinson Chiu-Jennie Gai in their second group match today to confirm their place.
