Change in focus and mindset do the trick for triumphant duo

WHAT a transformation it has been for Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik!

From a shock loss in the semi-finals of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games individual event to becoming world champions in just three weeks.

The men’s doubles pair had been slammed left, right and centre for going down in Birmingham to a pair they had never lost to before previously – England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy.

Although Aaron-Wooi Yik managed to win a bronze, they had admitted that they had targeted the gold.

Now, they have more than atoned for their loss after creating history by becoming the first Malaysians to win at the World Championships.

The world No. 6 also did it in style – beating Indonesia’s three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan 21-19, 21-14 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Aaron-Wooi Yik, who have not won an Open title before, knew they needed to change a few things after their dismal defeat in the quadrennial Games.

It was their sixth loss in the semi-finals including the Swiss Open, Thailand Open, Indonesian Open, Malaysian Open, Malaysian Masters and Indonesian Masters.

Aaron revealed that a change in focus and mindset made the difference in Tokyo.

“We never cared about the points, whether we were leading or trailing. We know they (Ahsan-Hendra) are good on the first three shots, so we changed our game plan. We were more patient and utilised our own strengths,” explained Aaron.

Wooi Yik, meanwhile, has been working on improving his overall play.

“I’ve done a lot of work on my back court play. I’m more of a front court player, but I wanted to be an all-round player too. This is the strategy we’ve been working on,” said Wooi Yik.

Meanwhile, Aaron reflected on their previous best achievement which was also in Tokyo where they first defeated Ahsan-Hendra to win the bronze medal in last year’s Olympics.

“Last year, we won the bronze at the Olympics here. Now, we got the gold. So, I think Tokyo is a lucky place for us. I hope every coming tournament will be played here too,” joked Aaron.