PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are the last men's doubles pair to qualify for the World Tour Finals but national coaching director Rexy Mainaky wants them to be the first when the action begins from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou.
Aaron-Wooi Yik had to rely on the results of other pairs in the Race to Hangzhou after going down 23-25, 21-17, 12-21 to world No. 6 home duo He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu in the last eight of the China Masters in Shenzhen on Friday.
The world No. 5 were left to thank their lucky stars after Japan's Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi also lost to South Korea's Jin Yong-Seo Seung-jae in the quarter-finals.
If Hoki-Kobayashi had won the title, they would have qualified for the Finals instead of Aaron-Wooi Yik.
Their defeat meant that the latter, who are currently ninth in the Race to Hangzhou rankings, will move up to No. 7.
Only the top eight pairs will qualify for the Finals.
Aaron-Wooi Yik were also helped by teammates Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun slipping up in the China tourney.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun, who were seventh, had a good chance to earn a spot in the Finals for the first time but missed out after suffering a shock first round defeat at the hands of Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard.
After seeing fortune favour Aaron-Wooi Yik, Rexy has urged the pair to raise their game in the Finals.
The pair also qualified in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023 but have never made it past the group stage.
"I had hoped that Aaron-Wooi Yik will reach the semi-finals (in the China Masters) as that would have assured them a spot in the Tour Finals," said Rexy.
"But they lost in the last eight and had to rely on others to confirm their place. They were quite far away in the race to qualify but showed strong determination to close the gap.
"They beat a few good pairs to win the Korean Masters title (earlier this month) but in the end needed some luck. Now that they have been given this chance, I don't want them to waste it."
Rexy believes that Aaron-Wooi Yik need to improve physically ahead of the Finals.
"Against Jiting-Xiangyu, Wooi Yik especially started to tire in the third game. Physically, he is not at his best yet. He could not maintain his power and struggled to kill the shuttle," said Rexy.
"After the Paris Olympics (in August), he had to undergo rehab for three weeks to recover from his toe injury. He and Aaron needed time to regain their best form.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will join Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani in the Finals with the independent pair confirming their spot much earlier.
The other Malaysians, who have qualified are Lee Zii Jia (men's singles), Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women's doubles), Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (mixed doubles).
