PETALING JAYA: World champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (pic) were in no mood to celebrate after storming into the Singapore Open semi-finals.
The world No. 4 fought hard to come away with an 18-21, 21-16, 22-20 win over world No. 10 Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin of Indonesia in the men’s doubles quarter-finals at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday.
It was sweet revenge for the duo, who went down 18-21, 19-21 to Leo-Daniel in the Malaysian Masters quarter-finals two weeks ago.
It was also their first semi-final appearance in a World Tour tournament since finishing as the runners-up at the Indian Open in January.
Since the India trip, they have suffered early-round exits in four tournaments (German Open, All-England, Swiss Open and Asian Championships) and the furthest they got were the quarter-finals in the Masters in Indonesia and last month’s edition in Malaysia.
Aaron-Wooi Yik were supposed to be overjoyed with their win but instead they were disappointed with their performance.
“Even though we won, it was not a game that we can be happy about,” said Aaron.
“In the third game, we were leading by five to six points but we ended the game with a narrow win.
“Whenever we are leading, we tend to make a lot of unforced errors, which put us in a tense situation.
“This is something that we need to work on.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik will face China’s world No. 3 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang in the semi-finals today but the head-to-head record indicates that it will be an uphill task.
They have lost three times against the China pair in the Indonesian Masters last June, French Open last October and Indian Open in January before beating them in the Indonesian Masters in January.
Today’s match could fall in the favour of Aaron-Wooi Yik, if the Malaysians can repeat their superb performance in Indonesia.
National men’s doubles coach Tan Bin Shen lauded his charges’ performance and urged them to prepare well for today’s match.
“They performed well and were clear about their strategy,” said Bin Shen.
“However, they have to be well-prepared, stay focused and go all out in the semis.”
Meanwhile, high-riding Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei made it a double joy for Malaysia when they came from behind in the deciding game to beat Hong Kong’s Reginald Lee Chun Hei-Ng Tsz Yau 21-14, 16-21, 21-18 to reach the mixed doubles semi-finals.
They will face second seeds Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan next.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Christo Popov (Fra) 21-13, 21-17; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Lee Chia-hao (Tpe) 12-21, 21-13, 21-11.
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin (Ina) 18-21, 21-16, 22-20; Liang WeikengWang Chang (Chn) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 21-11, 21-11. Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Wang Zhiyi (Chn) 21-18, 21-18; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Supanida Katethong (Tha) 21-18, 21-15; Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) bt He Bingjiao (Chn) 21-16, 21-11; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Aya Ohori (Jpn) 21-18, 19-21, 21-16.
Women’s doubles: Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) 21-12, 21-14; Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu (Chn) by Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-19, 19-21, 21-16; Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) 21-17, 20-22, 23-21; Li Wenmei-Liu Xuanxuan (Chn) bt Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (Jpn) 22-20, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) 23-21, 12-21, 21-17; Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun (Kor) bt Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) 21-19, 21-19; Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) bt Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 21-13, 19-21, 21-19. Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) bt Reginald Lee Chun Hei-Ng Tsz Yau (Hkg) 21-14, 16-21, 21-18
