Great achievement: Aaron Chia (left) and Soh Wooi Yik ended their long wait for a World Tour title in the Denmark Open.
PETALING JAYA: A right thigh injury has forced shuttler Soh Wooi Yik to withdraw from the men’s doubles competition in the French Open along with Aaron Chia.
Wooi Yik and Aaron had experienced a high after ending their long wait for a World Tour title in the Denmark Open on Sunday.
The duo, though, will not be able to continue their momentum in the French tourney after they had to concede a walkover to Indonesia’s world No. 13 Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin in the first round in Rennes yesterday.
“Wooi Yik experienced pain in his right thigh during the semi-finals of the Denmark Open,” said national coaching director Rexy Mainaky.
“He forced himself to play through the pain until he won the final with Aaron.
“After that, we went through a tiring journey from Odense to Rennes.
“Wooi Yik trained on Tuesday morning and the pain in his thigh was quite bad.
“I called for a meeting yesterday morning with him, Aaron and men’s doubles coach Tan Bin Shen to discuss the issue.
“Wooi Yik then made the decision to not play in the French Open as he was afraid of aggravating the injury,” added Rexy.
However, Rexy played down the seriousness of the injury.
“According to our physiotherapy team’s report, the injury is not serious.
“But they feel that it was better to not risk it during matches.”
Wooi Yik is not expected to be out of action for long.
Meanwhile, independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi failed to advance to the second round after they suffered a shock 20-22, 19-21 defeat to South Korea’s world No. 29 Jin Yong-Na Sung-seung in their opening match on Tuesday.
With the defeat, the world No. 9’s inconsistent showing in the second half of this year reared its ugly head again after the pair had reached back-to-back quarter-finals in the Arctic and Denmark Opens.
In the women’s doubles, independent pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien edged Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing 21-19, 21-19.
World No. 29 Vivian-Chiew Sien have a tough task next against Indonesia’s world No. 8 Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti in the second round.
RESULTS
(Malaysian only)
First round
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik w.o. Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin (Ina); Jin Yong-Na Sung-seung (Kor) bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 22-20, 21-19.
Women’s doubles: Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien bt Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing 21-19, 21-19.
