Easy win: Aaron Chia (left) and Soh Wooi Yik beat Kim Jae-hyeon-Lee Sang-won 21-17, 21-12 in just 33 minutes.
PETALING JAYA: Taiwanese shuttler Wang Chi-lin is no longer playing with men’s doubles partner and fellow two-time Olympic gold medallist Lee Yang but could still pose a threat to national pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
Chi-lin has partnered Chiu Hsiang-chieh since Lee Yang announced his retirement after the Paris Games in August and the new combo are set to take on top seeds Aaron-Wooi Yik in the semi-finals of the Korean Masters today.
The Malaysian world No. 6 easily booked their spot in the last four after beating homesters Kim Jae-hyeon-Lee Sang-won 21-17, 21-12 in just 33 minutes in Iksan City yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese duo had to dig deep to overcome China’s Xie Haonan-Zeng Weihan 21-12, 16-21, 21-19 in 62 minutes.
While Aaron-Wooi Yik hold the advantage as the more established combination, they cannot afford to underestimate Chi-lin-Hsiang-chieh.
Chi-lin-Hsiang-chieh have reached their third semi-final since forming a partnership after the Olympics as they also made it this far in the Korean and Hong Kong Opens in September.Meanwhile, it will be Aaron-Wooi Yik first last four appearance since winning bronze in the Paris Olympics.
The pair now have an opportunity to reach their first final since finishing runners-up in the All-England in March.
Beating Chi-lin-Hsiang-chieh will also keep alive Aaron-Wooi Yik’s slim hopes of qualifying for the prestigious World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou.
Currently, the latter are 13th in the Race to Hangzhou rankings and need to break into the top eight to make the cut.
Meanwhile, the hosts are guaranteed a finalist after Seo Seung-jae-Ki Dong-ju set up a clash against teammates Kim Won-ho-Jin Yong in the other semi-final.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Liu Liang (Chn) 21-15, 21-11; Kiran George (Ind) bt Takuma Obayashi (Jpn) 21-14, 21-16; Wang Zhengxing (Chn) bt Riku Hatano (Jpn) 21-14, 21-18; Cho Geon-yeop (Kor) bt Jason Gunawan (Hkg) 18-21, 21-18, 21-17.
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Kim Jae-hyeon-Lee Sang-won (Kor) 21-17, 21-12; Wang Chi-lin-Chiu Hsiang-chieh (Tpe) bt Xie Haonan-Zeng Weihan (Chn) 21-12, 16-21, 21-19; Seo Seung-jae-Ki Dong-ju (Kor) bt Ming Che-lu-Tang Kai-wei (Tpe) 21-17, 21-16; Kim Won-ho-Jin Yong (Kor) bt Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan (Tpe) 21-19, 21-11.
Women’s singles: Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) bt Lin Hsiang-ti (Tpe) 21-18, 21-10; Han Qianxi (Chn) bt Lee So-yul (Kor) 21-19, 21-13; Chiu Pin-chian (Tpe) bt Kim Min-sun (Kor) 15-21, 21-15, 21-19; Putri Kusuma (Ina) bt Sim Yu-jin (Kor) 21-16, 12-21, 24-22.
Women’s doubles: Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Hsu Ya-ching-Sung Yu-hsuan (Tpe) 21-19, 21-11; Li Yijing-Luo Xumin (Chn) bt Chen Yan-fei-Sun Liang-ching (Tpe) 21-17, 21-12.
Mixed doubles: Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) bt Lee Jong-min-Lee Yu-lim (Kor) 21-17, 21-10; Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) bt Chen Cheng-kuan-Hsu Yin-hui (Tpe) 21-14, 20-22, 21-9.
