PETALING JAYA: Men's doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were heartbroken after missing out on the semi-finals in the World Tour Finals in what was a cruel twist of fate.
Aaron-Wooi had looked good to make their first Finals appearance but all that changed when China's He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu withdrew due to back injury to Xiangyu on Friday.
Their win against Jiting-Xiangyu two days ago was declared null and void and they had to win against Indonesia's world No. 11 Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza to keep their hopes alive.
But instead, the world No. 5 Aaron-Wooi Yik could not find a way past the spirited Indonesians and went down 16-21, 16-21 in 41 minutes in the Group B match in Hangzhou on Friday (Dec 13).
The Malaysians had also beaten another Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in three games.
As Sabar-Moh had lost to Fajar-Rian, the Malaysians would have made it regardless of the result on Friday, but the withdrawal of the Chinese pair had made the situation complicated.
With that defeat, Aaron-Wooi Yik's wait to reach the last four in the Finals continued. They also did not get past the group stage in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023.
Meanwhile, Sabar-Moh, who are making their debuts in the tourney, will join Fajar-Rian in the last four.
