Wooi Yik vows to rise again after disappointing end to year

Time to rebound: Soh Wooi Yik (left) is determined to prove that his historic world title win with Aaron Chia is no fluke.

PETALING JAYA: Struggles will only make me stronger!

That’s the attitude of national men’s doubles shuttler Soh Wooi Yik, following his and partner Aaron Chia’s disappointing end to the year.

Wooi Yik has vowed to bounce back after a frustrating outing with Aaron at the World Tour Finals in Bangkok where the duo exited the group stage without winning a single match.

Aaron-Wooi Yik had started their campaign with a tame 12-21, 15-21 loss to Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan, whom they had beaten in the World Championships final in August.

The pair then went down fighting 21-23, 24-22, 16-21 to China’s Australian Open winners Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi before their misery was compounded by a narrow 19-21, 21-23 loss to Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

With the exit, Aaron-Wooi Yik’s long wait for a World Tour title continues.

Wooi Yik, though, is determined to prove that the pair’s historic world title win was no fluke by rebounding strongly next year.

In a heartfelt social media post, Wooi Yik said: “The sky isn’t blue again. But my journey and dream have not ended. Obviously, it wasn’t a good ending for this year. My apologies for not meeting the huge expectations on me.

‘’My coaches and team have helped me prepare so hard to face any challenges but sometimes, things don’t go as well as we expect.

“Winning and losing is part of the game. People can share their opinions about the game. I have went through a lot in my life but my patriotism and passion to fight for my country will never diminish.

‘’I believe that these struggles and difficult times are a test from God to challenge myself and help me develop further. This is not the end of the world. The crown seems heavy but as I said before I will bear the weight of it.

“I always aim to make my country proud. I will always try to do this over and over again, and keep reminding myself that I can do it. And I will.”

Wooi Yik and Aaron will next turn their attention to the Malaysian Open from Jan 10-15.

They will be looking to start the year on a positive note by performing well in the home tourney.