Time for a breather: Aaron (right) and Wooi Yik have withdrawn from the back-to-back Japan Open (Aug 20-25) and Korean Open (Aug 27-Sept 1) but could compete in the Hong Kong Open (Sept 10-15). — ART CHEN/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are keen to keep playing badminton at the highest level into their late 30s like Indonesian pair Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.
And just like the legendary Ahsan and Hendra, Aaron-Wooi Yik want to win more major titles.
Hendra, 39 has won all the major crowns including the Olympics, World Championships and Asian Games first with his former partner Markis Kido and then with Ahsan, 36, and continues to play top level badminton.
Aaron, 27 Wooi Yik, 26, are already one of the greatest men’s doubles pairs in Malaysia as they have won medals in all the major tournaments including gold in the world meet in 2022, bronze in the 2021 Tokyo and the recent Paris Olympics as well as in the Hangzhou Asian Games last October.
Wooi Yik, though, is far from satisfied as he craves the gold in the Olympics and Asian Games.
“Aaron and I have always discussed this and we want to maintain this partnership as long as possible because we know we have the potential to go further,” said Wooi Yik in a post-Olympics press conference at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“We have not reached the top yet and this is what we want. We want to win the major tournaments. Hendra has won all the major titles and we want to be like him and Ahsan.
“Yes, we have medals in all the major competitions but we did not get gold in every one of them and we want to do better.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik believe that the tight competition in the men’s doubles means that they need to always find ways to gain an edge over their opponents.
The world No. 3 had narrowly missed out on the final in the Paris Olympics after going down 19-21, 21-15, 17-21 to China’s world No. 1 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang.
Aaron-Wooi Yik then edged Denmark’s world No. 2 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 16-21, 22-20, 21-19 in the playoff for the bronze.
On what they needed to do to come out on top in the next Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles, Wooi Yik said: “We were at our highest level in this Olympics.
“We gave our all in every match and pulled off everything that we did in training but we lost out during some crucial moments.
“This experience taught us that our minds need to be more clear during the crucial stages. Of course, the physical aspect like our strength also needs to be even better.
“All pairs have their own advantage and to be an all-rounded pair, our strength needs to be better.”
For now, Wooi Yik will take a short break from tournaments with Aaron after suffering a slight injury in Paris.
The duo have withdrawn from the back-to-back Japan Open (Aug 20-25) and Korean Open (Aug 27-Sept 1) but could compete in the Hong Kong Open (Sept 10-15).
