MALAYSIAN men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik have made it to the final of the India Open, a Super 750 tournament with a prize pool of US$850,000.
The pair defeated Indonesian rivals Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in a comeback victory, winning 11-21, 21-15, and 21-16 in a 53-minute match.
“I think we played our game today. We believed in ourselves (to make a comeback after losing the first set),” Bernama reported Aaron as saying.
The pair, who are ranked sixth globally, easily won the first game but dropped the second. In the third game, they made a great comeback.
Moreover, they will compete for the championship against either Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China, who is rated No. 11, or Kang Min-hyuk-Seo-Seung-jae of South Korea today at 3.30pm.
After losing to the Indonesian couple three times in a row prior to this, at the Malaysian Masters from last year, as well as the Thailand and Swiss Opens, Aaron-Wooi Yik’s victory today was bittersweet retaliation.
Their win was in stark contrast with the fortunes of the national top women’s pair, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, who found their semifinal opponents from Japan, Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, just too good today.
Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were defeated by Japanese opponents 14-21, 16-21.
“We could not match their Japanese opponents in speed during the match, which lasted 43 minutes. I think their speed was faster than ours. We were not able to keep pace,” said the top women’s pair.
With their win yesterday (Jan 21), Aaron-Wooi Yik are seeking their first Open title and a perfect Chinese New Year gift. — Jan 22, 2023
