Huge challenge: Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Chia are currently 11th in the Race to Hangzhou rankings. — AP
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik face a fierce battle to qualify for the World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou.
Aaron-Wooi Yik have made the cut for the prestigious season-ending Finals four times in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023 but are in danger of missing out this time.
The pair currently lie in 11th place in the Race to Hangzhou rankings after missing the back-to-back Japan and Korean Opens due to a slight injury to Wooi Yik.Fellow Malaysians Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian (No. 6), Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (No. 7) and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (No. 8) are all ahead of Aaron-Wooi Yik for now.
Only the pairs that remain in the top eight at the conclusion of the World Tour competitions this year can qualify for the Tour Finals.
Two pairs can make the cut from a country if both are ranked within the top eight.
In the case where there are more than two pairs from the same country in the top eight, the pairs ranked higher will qualify.
It is set to be an intriguing battle between the Malaysian pairs with many tournaments still left to play, starting with the back-to-back Hong Kong Open (Sept 10-15) and China Open (Sept 17-22) where Aaron-Wooi Yik are set to return.
The other competitions rated Super 500 and above left this year before the Tour Finals are the Arctic Open (Oct 8-13), Denmark Open (Oct 15-20), Japan Masters (Nov 12-17) and China Masters (Nov 19-24).
In the women’s doubles, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah are back in contention to qualify for the Finals after their recent runners-up finish in the Korean tourney.
The duo leaped from No. 13 to No. 8 in the latest Race to Hangzhou rankings and have a good chance of making the cut if they maintain their performance in the remaining tournaments this year.
Pearly-Thinaah have only qualified once before for the Tour Finals in 2022 after capturing the French Open that year.
In the mixed doubles, Malaysia have a good opportunity to have two representatives in the Finals as Korean Open champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and independent pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie are currently ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.
In the men’s singles, Lee Zii Jia also has a great chance to qualify despite dropping down two rungs from No. 3 to No. 5 after exiting the Japan tourney in the first round.
