PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are out to capture the Malaysian Open title at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil in what will be their last outing with coach Tan Bin Shen.
Bin Shen will leave the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) a day after the tournament and join the Hong Kong team.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who are currently ranked No. 6 in the world, are keen to start the year on a high and give their coach the perfect parting gift.
“Our aim is always to win the title when we play in a tournament and the Malaysian Open is the same,” said Wooi Yik.
“It’s not just that we want to give coach Bin Shen a parting gift but this has always been our goal.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik know that it will be no easy task but hope to end Malaysia’s seven-year wait for a home champion in the Super 1000 tourney starting from Jan 7-12.
Datuk Lee Chong Wei was the last Malaysian to win the title when he triumphed in the men’s singles in 2018.
The competition was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the last two editions, no Malaysian even made it past the quarter-finals.
Aaron-Wooi Yik and fellow Malaysians Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi were the only home representatives to reach the last eight this year.
The former went down to South Korea’s Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae while the latter lost to Japan’s Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi.
Aaron-Wooi Yik’s best showing in the home Open was in the 2022 edition where they made it into the last four.
This time, Malaysia’s chances look brighter as a total of seven pairs will be competing in the men’s doubles in the tourney.
The other home pairs currently in the list besides Aaron-Wooi Yik and Yew Sin-Ee Yi are Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian, Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi and Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub.
