NATIONAL No. 1 men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik stayed cool despite a full house at the National Exhibition Centre.
Home supporters had turned up in full force to cheer on their local heroes but the world No. 6 Aaron-Wooi Yik stayed steady to maintain their flawless record against England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy by pulling off a solid 21-17, 21-18 win.
They had beaten the pair three times before and the win yesterday was enough to beat England 3-0 in the semi-final tie.
The win was also a confidence booster for Aaron-Wooi Yik as they are eyeing to justify their seeding as the best pair in the Games.
Aaron was happy to deliver the winning point.
“I think we started quite well and our teammates’ wins in the first two matches allowed me and Wooi Yik to play without a lot of pressure,” said Aaron.
Earlier, the coaches threw a surprise by fielding second pair and newly formed Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See ahead of the more experienced and world No. 9 Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing to face world No. 11 Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith.
At first, it seemed like the decision was set to backfire when Peng Soon-Yee See were out of sorts and lost the opening game easily 12-21 but eventually the duo did not disappoint as they fought their way to win the next two games 21-18, 21-13 to give a superb start.
Boosted by the win, men’s singles player Ng Tze Yong played his part well when he put in a composed display to beat Toby Penty 21-13, 21-14.Malaysia will next take on India or Singapore for the gold medal.
National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky is expecting a tough test regardless of who the team will face in the title match.
“It will be tough whoever we face. I’m expecting good matches in the final,” said Rexy.
The team are all out to regain the gold after losing to India in the 2018 Gold Coast Games.
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