Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in action during the quarter-finals against Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong at the Toyota Thailand Open. www.badmintonphoto.com.
PETALING JAYA: In just a week, national No. 1 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have turned their despair into joy by reaching the men's doubles semi-finals at the Toyota Thailand Open.
And they did it in style by pulling the rug from down under the 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medal winners Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong with a sensational 21-16,21-13 win in a 35-minute quarter-final match at the Impact Arena in Bangkok.
Last week, Aaron-Wooi Yik were dumped by V Shem-Wee Kiong in the opening round of the first Open in Thailand. Their seniors then, inspired by the win, went all the way to the final before losing to Taiwanese Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin.
Today, the world No. 9 Aaron-Wooi Yik will take on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India for a place in the final.
In their only meeting at the India International Challenge in 2017, the Malaysians had beaten the Indians in a rubber game.
Satwiksairaj-Chirag spoiled an all-Malaysian semi-final after defeating independent shuttlers Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-18,24-22 in another last eight match.
Aaron was delighted that they made a good account of themselves.
"We are satisfied with our performance today. We made some changes and stuck to our game plan. And it resulted in an upset win against our seniors," said Aaron.
Although thrilled that they got their revenge, Aaron said they would remain grounded in the semis.
"Both pairs stand an equal chance, so we cannot let our guard down," he said.
The other men's doubles semi-final will be a mouth-watering clash between Indonesians Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan and Lee Yang-Chi-lin.
Malaysia's challenge have also been reduced to one pair each in the women's doubles and mixed doubles.
National No. 1 Lee Meng Yean-Chow Mei Kuan defeated Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah to set up a meeting against fourth seeded Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong of South Korea.
In the mixed doubles, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See served a pleasant surprise when they upstaged sixth seeds Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle of Indonesia 12-21,21-19,21-19. They will take on Seu Seong-jae-Chae Yujung of South Korea next.
It was over for Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying when they went down fighting 21-18,22-24,20-22 to Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa of India.
RESULTS
QUARTER-FINALS
MEN
Singles: Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Sameer Verma (Ind) 21-13,19-21,22-20; Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Wang Tzu-wei (Tpe) 21-16,21-16; Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Liew Daren (Mas) 21-16,21-15; Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (Den) bt Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hkg) 20-22,21-12,21-19.
Doubles: Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) bt Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidel (Ger) 21-14,21-12; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (Mas) bt 21-18,24-22; Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 21-14,21-13; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) 21-16,21-13.
WOMEN
Singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) 21-15,21-18; Carolina Marin (Spa) bt Neslihan Yigit (Tur) 21-6,21-15; Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) bt Michelle Li (Can) 18-21,21-13,21-11; Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt P. V. Sindhu (Ind) 21-13,21-9.
Doubles: Lee So-hee-Shin Seung-chan (Kor) bt Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen (Mas) 21-13,21-16; Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) 21-17,21-13; Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu (Ina) bt Alexandra Boje-Mette Poulsen (Den) 21-9,21-17; Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (Mas) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) 22-20,21-12.
Mixed doubles: Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yujung (Kor) bt Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 24-22,21-18; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) bt Ko Sung-hyun-Eom Hye-won (Kor) 27-29,21-15,21-9; Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See (Mas) bt Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle (Ina) 12-21,21-19,21-19; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa (Ind) bt Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) 18-21,24-22,22-20.
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