Done deal: Aaron Chia (back) and Soh Wooi Yik have already booked their World Tour Finals spot by virtue of their World Championships victory.
PETALING JAYA: A tough task has just turned into a near-impossible mission.
National men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have a mountain to climb to qualify for their first ever World Tour Finals from Dec 14-18 in Guangzhou after their disappointing first round exit in the Denmark Open on Tuesday.
World No. 10 Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who were already playing catch-up with independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi in a battle to make the cut for the prestigious Finals did themselves no favours after they were stunned by Taiwan’s reigning Olympic champion Lee Yang and his new partner Lu Chen 18-21, 14-21.
This was the Malaysian pair’s fourth loss in a row in the early rounds of World Tour competitions since reaching the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open in July.
It leaves Yew Sin-Ee Yi and Sze Fei-Izzuddin to battle it out for the other spot.Yew Sin-Ee Yi, meanwhile, stayed steady to pull off a commendable 21-18, 22-20 win over China’s Japan Open champions Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang 21-18, 22-20.
Now, the independent pair, who are one rung above Sze Fei-Izzuddin in the Race to Guangzhou rankings at fifth have the opportunity to further establish themselves as the favourites to make it to the Finals when they take on another Chinese pair Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi today for a place in the quarter-finals.
Only the top eight pairs will make it to the Finals with two pairs from the same country allowed.
National No. 1 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who currently lie ninth have already booked their spot by virtue of their World Championships victory.
Yesterday, world No. 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik, who are competing in their first tournament since capturing the world title in August, beat Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidel 21-18, 21-19 to book their spot in the second round.
Aaron was pleased by his and Wooi Yik’s performance in the win.
“Everything is good for us so far. We are feeling confident here. There was nothing much to worry about in the match yesterday,” said Aaron.
He and Wooi Yik will next play Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar of France for a place in the quarter-finals.
Another pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun failed to follow Aaron-Wooi Yik into the next round when they lost out to Indonesia’s All-England champions Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana 20-22, 15-21.
