We’re still standing: Aaron Chia (right) and Soh Wooi Yik will play India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in the semi-finals today. — S.S.KANESAN/The Star
IT was the quarter-finals, but it could well have been the final.
World No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik fought tooth and nail to claim a magnificent 21-18, 19-21, 21-18 win over homesters and world No. 8 Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi in a thrilling clash at the Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou yesterday.
The pressure on the Malaysians was tremendous on the former world champions as they were the only ones left standing after all others – Lee Zii Jia, Ng Tze Yong (men’s singles), Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles) and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles) - fell by the wayside in the quarter-finals action.
It seemed like it was going to be badminton’s worst outing in Asiad but Aaron-Wooi Yik came to the rescue once again by maintaining their proud record of winning medals in major events. They are now assured of at least a bronze medal.
Yesterday though, they certainly made life difficult for themselves. They could have won in straight games after leading 19-17 in the second game but allowed the persistent Chinese duo to fight back and force a rubber game in front of the partisan home fans.
In the third game, Aaron-Wooi Yik again led 19-17 but this time, they did not waste their opportunity to grab the win.
In the semi-finals today, Aaron-Wooi Yik will take on India’s world No. 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, who beat Singapore’s Nge Joo Jie-Johann Prajogo 21-7, 21-9 in another quarter-final.
National coaching director Rexy Mainaky was thankful for the win.
“I want to thank God for Aaron-Wooi Yik repeating their win over the Chinese pair that they managed in the World Championships in August, especially on their home ground,” said
“They played positively. They rushed a bit in the second game to finish the match but I am happy that they pulled through.
“I hope they stay consistent to win the gold.”
Meanwhile, Pearly seemed to be struggling with a back injury in the women’s doubles action yesterday.
Pearly and Thinaah got off to a good start against South Korea’s world No. 2 Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee but ran out of gas at the end. They lost 21-15, 11-21, 7-21 in an 85-minute battle.
Pearly-Thinaah had agonisingly lost a titanic battle 20-22, 21-8, 17-21 to the Koreans in their last encounter in the final of the Malaysian Masters but yesterday, the Malaysians were more subdued.
In the mixed doubles, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei lost out 14-21, 21-23 to China’s defending champions and world No. 1 Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong.
“It’s a real pity that we could not win the second game,” said Tang Jie in a post-match interview with Astro Arena.
“We still have a lot to learn on how to handle the crucial stages in a match.”
