PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttler Soh Wooi Yik believes that he and Aaron Chia need to start from zero again after missing tournaments for two months.
Wooi Yik had to play through a toe fracture in the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics to win bronze with Aaron in August and needed two months to fully recover.
The world No. 4 pair made their return to tournaments in the Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland, last week but suffered a second-round exit after losing to England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy.
Aaron-Wooi Yik had to survive a huge scare against Japan’s world No. 19 Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura before they booked their spot in the second round of the Denmark Open yesterday.
The former needed 49 minutes to beat the Japanese duo 28-26, 21-11 at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense.
Aaron said that the pair were still getting used to competing again after the long break while Wooi Yik felt that they have to start from scratch again.
“We have been away from tournaments for a long time and we are just back in our second tournament. Of course we are experienced players but we have to get used to a lot of things again,” said Aaron in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“In the first game, we were trailing our opponents a bit and we were not doing well on court.
“It’s more of getting back into our rhythm as training and playing in tournaments is totally different. We have to get back our match rhythm as fast as possible.”
Wooi Yik said: “We had to change our strategy in the second game and had to be better in our first three shots.
“We enjoyed the moment after winning the bronze for our country.
“Now, we need to start from zero because the Olympics is not the end for us.
“We want to continue our mission to reach the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. So, this is a new journey for us and we want to become better players.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who captured their first ever World Tour title in Denmark last year, will likely play teammates Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun next for a place in the last eight.
World No. 15 Wei Chong-Kai Wun should have no problem beating England’s Callum Hemming-Ethan Van Leeuwen in their opening match.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles, world No. 10 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie suffered an early exit after going down 21-9, 22-24, 10-21 to French pair Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
(Malaysians only)
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura (Jpn) 28-26, 21-11.
Mixed doubles: Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie 9-21, 24-22, 21-10.
