PETALING JAYA: It was a shaky start for national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik at the Japan Masters but the duo are finding their footing as they moved into the second round of the tournament.
The world No. 6 had a scare in the opening game against world No. 30 duo Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard of Denmark but stayed calm to eventually win 15-21, 21-17, 21-9 in Kumamoto yesterday. Fresh off their Korean Open win, Aaron-Wooi Yik said they felt unfamiliar with their opponents as they arrived late to the venue and did not get to test out the court.
“We were unfamiliar in the first game because we didn’t get to test the venue. It was quite late when we arrived so we were a little slow to get into the game.
“But we slowly got our rhythm back in the second and third games,” said Wooi Yik.
Still in the hunt to qualify for the World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou, China, Aaron-Wooi Yik are hoping to get back into shape as soon as possible.
“Our condition isn’t at 100 percent like it was before. Our goal is to gradually get into shape, and then go all out to qualify for the World Tour Finals,” Wooi Yik added.
Tough fight: Aaron Chia (back) and Soh Wooi Yik beat Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard 15-21, 21-17, 21-9 in Kumamoto yesterday.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will now take on Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin after the Taiwanese pair defeated Malaysian qualifiers Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong 21-14, 21-19 yesterday.
In the mixed doubles, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie moved into the second round after defeating Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi 18-21, 21-12, 21-14, and will meet China’s Zhou Zhihong-Yang Jiayi next.
Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin also advanced after their 21-18, 21-19 win over Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara. They will meet Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas in the second round.
Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien had a tough fight with Denmark’s Jesper Toft-Amalie Magelund but managed to come out on top to win 22-20, 11-21, 21-12 to set up a second round clash with Presley Smith-Jennie Gai from the United States.
Meanwhile, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei suffered an upset as the second seeds lost to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran 15-21, 12-21 yesterday.
