Final flourish: Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik posing with their coach Tan Bin Shen after their win in the Korean Masters.
PETALING JAYA: The weight is off Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik’s shoulders after winning their first Open title at the Korean Masters.
The world No. 6 men’s doubles pair Aaron-Wooi Yik had been seeking their only second Open title after winning the Denmark Open a year ago, and it finally came after they toiled for 66 minutes to beat South Koreans Jin Yong-Kim Won-ho 21-23, 21-19, 21-14 at Iksan City yesterday.
The Koreans however did not make it easy as they cornered the Malaysians from all angles to force them to make mistakes.
The pressure to win was evident but Aaron-Wooi Yik proved their will to end their title wait was stronger.
And naturally, after becoming only the first Malaysian pair to win in South Korea, Aaron and Wooi Yik were beaming.
Aaron said the victory meant a lot, especially after Wooi Yik had taken time off to heal from a toe fracture that affected him following their bronze medal win at the Paris Olympic Games in August.
“This win is so important to us. We are just happy to show that we are slowly getting back our rhythm on the court after Wooi Yik’s recovery from his injury,” said a delighted Aaron.
The duo failed to defend the Denmark Open title two weeks ago after losing in the quarter-finals but Aaron believes their fortunes will continue to change.
“All looks good for us now.”
The win in the Korean Masters has moved Aaron-Wooi Yik three rungs to the 10th spot with 63,090 points in the ranking for the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, from Dec 10-15.
The duo will have to reproduce the same form in this week’s Japan Masters and next week’s China Masters to break into the top eight.
They are ranked third among the Malaysians fighting for the Finals’ tickets. Professionals Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are at the third spot (77,400) and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are at the seventh (67,840).
A country can only have two pairs if both are in the top eight in the Road to Hangzhou standing.
“We’ll just do our best,” added Aaron, who knows that it looks tough on paper.
Leading the ranking currently at No. 1 are Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark (90,770), followed by He Jiting-Ren Xiang of China (87,350) in second.
National coach Tan Bin Shen was happy for the duo as he felt the win was needed to lift up their morale.
“This win showed that they have regained their momentum, and hopefully, they will be consistent and do better,” said Bin Shen.
“As for the Finals, they need about 12,000 points to qualify, that’s a lot of points. I just want them to stay focused in every game.”
In the Japan Masters, they are drawn to play Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard of Denmark in the opening round. They have to reach at least the semi-finals to keep the Finals hope alive.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Wang Zhengxing (Chn) 21-18, 21-18.
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Jin Yong-Kim Won-ho (Kor) 21-23, 21-19, 21-14.
Women’s singles: Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) bt Han Qian-xi (Chn) 21-14, 21-14.
Women’s doubles: Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Li Yi-jing-Luo Xu-min (Chn) 21-14, 16-21, 21-18.
Mixed doubles: Guo Xinwa-Chen Fang-hui (Chn) bt Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle (Ina) 21-10, 21-12.
